Historic Texas hotel where suspected gas explosion occurred remains immediate danger zone

FORT WORTH, Texas (TND) — The site where an explosion injured nearly two dozen people remained an active scene in Fort Worth, Texas the day after.

Hot spots still remain at that historic 20-story Sandman Signature Hotel after the explosion rocked the downtown area Monday afternoon.

At least 21 people were injured, according to police.

Fort Worth police spokesman warned Tuesday that some areas are still considered "immediate danger zones."

“Anything inside the immediate hot zone here on 8th, between 7th and 9th, and 7th, Houston and 7th and 9th and Throckmorton, is considered an immediate danger zone," said Jimmy Pollozani with the police department.

Officials described the explosion as some type of "gas explosion." The fire department is working with state and federal investigators and utility workers to determine the exact cause of the explosion. Northland Properties Co., the Canadian company that owns the hotel, said in a statement that it was working with officials to determine how the explosion occurred and how much damage it caused.

"We are working with those who have been injured to fully support them at this time," the company said.

There were no fatalities. At least one person injured is listed in critical condition while four others suffered serious injuries, according to officials.

Authorities said rescuers found several people trapped in the basement after the blast.

The area around the hotel would remain closed.

"There was debris. There was insulation. There was office furniture," said Charlie Collier, a 31-year-old who was working nearby and said he saw a large flash and what sounded like thunder.

"Everything that was in the first couple floors of the building was blown out all over the street," he said.

The hotel is in a busy area of downtown about a block from the Fort Worth Convention Center. Footage from news helicopters showed firefighters picking their way through the piles of drywall, shattered glass and mangled metal that lay scattered across the street and over parked vehicles. Gaping holes were visible in the ground.

Craig Trojacek, a fire department spokesman, said a restaurant in the building had been under construction but that it hasn't been determined that the blast occurred there. Authorities have not specified the cause of the suspected gas leak.

In photos that the fire department posted on social media, firefighters could be seen lifting a woman out of what appeared to be the hotel's lower level. Her eyes appeared to be closed and her face and hair were speckled with dirt and debris.

According to the hotel website, the Sandman Signature Fort Worth Downtown Hotel has 245 rooms and was built in 1920 as the "Waggoner Building," named after cattle rancher and oilman William Thomas Waggoner. The building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979.

Its Japanese restaurant, Musume, advertises a private dining room "set within one of the building's decades-old, original bank vaults." The restaurant's owner said in a statement Tuesday that it was closed during the blast and that three employees are among those hospitalized in stable condition.

Editor's Note: The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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