FORT WORTH, Texas — Crews began clearing debris from the street in front of the Sandman Hotel a day after Fort Worth issued a permit for the work and nearly a month after an explosion ripped a hole in the historic building and injured nearly two dozen people.
Moving chunks of rebar and concrete from the hotel will help investigators determine what caused the blast, Fort Worth Fire Chief Jim Davis said last week. His department is convinced there was no criminal activity involved, but won't yet say natural gas led to the explosion.
Northland Developments, which owns the hotel building, said there was no indication the integrity of the building was compromised -- but it is working with a structural engineer to confirm.
"There are no plans to demolish at the site," a Northland spokesperson emailed WFAA. "We are encouraged by the community support during this challenging time and know that we all look forward to opening our doors again as soon as we can."
On the site Tuesday, teams of workers filmed and photographed the methodical progress of crews with heavy machinery. A previous agreement on Thursday regulated how Atmos Energy and Northland plan to oversee cleanup to ensure evidence preservation, given the nine lawsuits filed by hotel workers and guests against both companies.
Atmos Energy filed its own suit denying responsibility for the blast, saying its engineers determined gas may have begun leaking inside the hotel hours before the explosion. It said the leak did not occur on any lines for which it was responsible.
Despite the denial, other lawsuits against both Atmos Energy and Northland Developments are still in the works. Lawyer Alex Adewunmi said he plans to file a lawsuit on behalf of the small businesses across the street from the hotel explosion.
"This again is not about 'oh my gosh an explosion happened, let's go see how much money we can make,'" he said. "This is 'oh my gosh, my livelihood or my well being has been affected.'"
He said his relationship with the plaintiffs is unique; the office in which he practices law is also across the street from the Sandman Hotel and sustained visible damage.
"It feels good to be able to help folks that are your next door neighbors," Adewunmi said. "With their businesses and foot traffic and the expenses that they have on a day-to-day basis, you want to know that you’re going to be here tomorrow and this kind of makes it little bit difficult to see the flight at the end of the tunnel."
Adewunmi said his firm is conducting due diligence and plans to file its suit "sooner than later."