FORT WORTH, Texas — The Department of Labor is looking into what it called "an issue" with the federal investigation into the Fort Worth hotel explosion in January.
The inquiry ended with no action after the statute of limitations to issue fines ran out.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigator called a Compliance Safety and Health Officer (CSHO), assigned to the case missed months of work following emergency surgery, an OSHA document obtained by WFAA showed.
The CSHO "did not provide any notes, narrative, interviews, photos or any information for this investigation," the final notation in the incident's case diary noted. "Past the statute of limitations to issue any violations," read the notation closing the case on May 27.
A Department of Labor spokesperson said another CSHO inspector would typically pick up the caseload for a worker who was out of the office. However, it appeared no additional investigator stepped in to examine the January 8 explosion at the Sandman Hotel.
The blast injured 21 people and ripped a hole through the historic building and the street in front of it. Among the hospitalized were at least two hotel employees, which triggered the OSHA investigation.
The Fort Worth Fire Department has still not released a definitive cause for the blast, although the OSHA document said the cause of the injuries to hotel workers was a "gas explosion in the hotel."
In a statement, the Department of Labor said "OSHA takes its job of ensuring proper investigations of workplace incidents very seriously." A spokesperson pledged to provide additional information as examined the "issue" with the OSHA probe.
A spokesperson for the hotel owner reiterated a pledge to rebuild in a statement released earlier this week as the city marked six months since the blast.
"We remain focused on our reopening efforts with the full clean-up and removal of debris throughout the building now completed. We have identified the locations that require repair or replacement and are anticipating receiving the detailed drawings this week," the statement said.
"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."