Massive explosion at Texas hotel; multiple injuries reported

By James Hartley
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

FORT WORTH, Texas — A massive explosion Monday afternoon blew out the ground floor of the 20-story Sandman Signature Hotel in downtown Fort Worth. Multiple people are reported injured.

The explosion at the historic Waggoner Building at 810 Houston St. rocked downtown shortly before 4 p.m. Debris was scattered hundreds of feet around the front of the building near Throckmorton Street. The hotel opened less than a year ago and included a basement level restaurant.

The explosion was in the kitchen of Musume restaurant, according to Josè Mira, 49, of Dallas, who works there. Mira was covered in dust and had a cut on his arm. He said he had to climb out of the rubble.

“Everything fell, the walls, the floor, everything,” he said. “It’s a miracle I’m alive.”

One woman kept coughing. People inhaled smoke.

In a post on X, the Fort Worth Fire Department said it “is on scene of a major incident in downtown #FortWorth. PLEASE avoid this area. We will provide updated information as it becomes available.”

The fire department said that people can reunite with their loved ones at Sundance Square.

Witnesses described people coming out of the hotel with bloody faces and people on stretchers. People said they had family members in the hotel, and that they were injured.

Barbara Jacobs , 58, a resident of the Historic Electric Building Apartments at 410 W. Seventh St. , said she normally walks by the building on her way home but “something told her not to.”

“When I heard the boom I was in the middle of the street,” she said. “To see it firsthand, oh my God it was scariest thing I ever seen.”

Multiple ambulances and police officers also are responding.

“There has been an explosion incident in downtown Fort Worth this afternoon, and every Fort Worth emergency response agency is on hand responding,” Mayor Mattie Parker said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “We will provide more information as available. My heart and prayers are with those who were injured as we continue managing response.”

The hotel has a lobby bar, and the Asian fusion restaurant Musume in the hotel’s basement level opened during the summer.

The building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has 245 rooms.

This is the second Sandman Signature Hotel in the United States ; the first was built in 2018 in Plano . The brand is part of Vancouver -based Northland Properties , which is Canada’s largest privately owned hospitality company with hotels and resorts across Canada and, more recently, in the U.K.

The company’s president, Tom Gaglardi, has owned the NHL Dallas Stars hockey club since 2011. He also owns the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League .

This is a developing story and will be updated.

©2024 Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Visit star-telegram.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.