Natural Gas Blast Destroys Downtown Fort Worth Shops

FORT WORTH — An explosion in the heart of the downtown area early Sunday destroyed a row of specialty shops, blew out scores of windows in a four-block area and frightened guests at a hotel, authorities said.

A guest at the 509-room Worthington Hotel was cut by glass, but no serious injuries were reported in the blast, which occurred about 3 a.m. and caused an estimated $2 million in damage, Fire Department spokesman Butch Hall said.

Hall said a pocket of natural gas had accumulated in either a barbecue restaurant or sandwich shop, which are adjacent to each other.

In addition to the two cafes, a print shop, an optometrist’s office and a bookstore were destroyed, and at least 20 other businesses were damaged in the blast across the street from the Tandy Center shopping mall, the spokesman said.

“Had it happened three hours earlier, I’d hate to think about it,” Hall said. “This is a heavily traveled area.”

The blast blew out windows in 162 rooms in the Worthington Hotel and shattered a 30-foot glass wall in a ballroom lobby but caused no structural damage, a hotel official said.

“Some people got a hell of a wake-up call,” said W. P. White, a hotel guest from San Angelo, Tex. “I thought it was an airplane crash,” another guest said.

One guest slept through the explosion, Hall said.

“He wouldn’t answer the door so we beat the door down with an ax,” he said. “When we got in there, the room was covered with glass. There was glass all over his bed. He wanted to know what had happened.”