Atmos Energy says Fort Worth hotel explosion wasn’t caused by its gas lines

Atmos Energy said Friday it had wrapped up its investigation into the Monday explosion at Sandman Signature Hotel in downtown Fort Worth, saying it found no indication its gas lines and equipment caused the blast.

Fort Worth officials have pointed to natural gas as a likely cause for the explosion on the lower level of the historic tower, in the Musume restaurant, but investigators have yet to announce their findings. The brief statement by Atmos offered no details about how it reached its conclusion nor any possible cause.

In a statement late Friday, Fort Worth’s fire department said it accepted Atmos’ findings. Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board were on-site to supervise Atmos’ testing, and didn’t raise any objections, the statement said.

The fire department is shifting its investigation to focus on the inside of the building, and still believes natural gas was involved.

“Although this is still in the early stages of the investigation, this is a significant development and provides us the ability to focus on a smaller footprint in order to try and determine a cause of this tragic event for all involved,” Fire Chief Jim Davis said in the statement. “We appreciate everyone’s continued cooperation.”

At least 21 people were injured by the powerful blast that caused significant damage to the basement and first two floors of the century-old tower at 810 Houston St. The basement collapsed, briefly trapping workers at the Musume restaurant underneath the rubble.

Restaurant worker Maite Karen Lopez, 27, sustained serious burns after being trapped in the basement. Other restaurant and hotel employees were hospitalized with a range of injuries. One couple described the harrowing experience of being trapped in the hotel elevator and narrowly escaping death.

Still, authorities have said it was remarkable that more people weren’t injured or killed, thanks to when the blast occurred around 3:30 p.m. on a Monday, when the restaurant hadn’t yet opened.

Atmos Energy is responsible for the gas lines and infrastructure that are largely in public right-of-ways, such as under streets and sidewalks downtown. Property owners are generally responsible for gas lines on their land or in their buildings. The Sandman hotel opened in spring 2023 after a multi-million dollar renovation of the former office building; the basement-level restaurant opened last July.

“We appreciate the partnership with the Fort Worth Fire and Police Departments and all officials participating in the response and will continue to assist their investigation,” Atmos’ statement said.

Northland Properties Co., the Canadian company that developed and owns the 245-room hotel, said in a statement this week that it was working with authorities to determine the cause.

Regardless of what caused the explosion, Atmos may still be a target of a slew of lawsuits likely to come out of the disaster. One lawyer told the Star-Telegram earlier this week that Atmos may get included in suits to gain access to the company’s documents and reports.

Gas leak fires and explosions from all types of causes are happening more frequently across the country, a recent report from a watchdog group found.

Atmos, headquartered in Dallas, is the country’s largest natural gas-only distributor, operating in eight states primarily in the South.

This story was originally published January 12, 2024 at 12:30 PM.

Harrison Mantas

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

817-390-7040

Harrison Mantas has covered Fort Worth city government, agencies and people since September 2021. He likes to live tweet city hall meetings, and help his fellow Fort Worthians figure out what’s going on.