Restaurant worker hurt at Fort Worth hotel sues, claims gas smell 90 minutes before blast

A Dallas County judge has signed a temporary restraining order preventing cleanup of debris at the Sandman Signature Hotel for seven days to preserve evidence due to a lawsuit from a Musume restaurant employee injured in Monday’s explosion in downtown Fort Worth.

José Mira from Dallas filed his lawsuit, which alleges gross negligence on the part of the hotel, restaurant and Atmos Energy, in Dallas County Court on Friday, his lawyers said Saturday in a news release.

Mira is suing Atmos Energy Corporation, Musume restaurant and the Sandman Signature Fort Worth Hotel along with the companies that own and manage the hotel — Northland Properties Corporation and Sandman Management Inc.

After the explosion, the 49-year-old restaurant employee was hospitalized with breathing difficulty and a traumatic head injury, according to the release.

Mira told the Star-Telegram on Monday afternoon that he had to climb out of the rubble from the basement-level restaurant. He was covered in dust and had a visible cut on his arm.

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

According to the release, Mira complained to the management about an “intense smell of natural gas, to the point of burning his eyes” around 2 p.m., about an hour and a half before the explosion. Management told him “that the smell had been noticed since the morning,” according to the suit.

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The lawsuit alleges that the defendants failed to ensure a safe environment for their employees and that Atmos Energy breached its “nondelegable duty” to “safely provide natural gas to Musume Restaurant.”

A strong odor of natural gas filled downtown after the explosion. Fort Worth Fire Chief Jim Davis told the city council Tuesday that investigators were trying to determine whether the explosion caused the gas leak or the gas leak caused the explosion.

On Friday, Atmos Energy wrapped up its investigation into the explosion and said it found no indication its gas lines and equipment caused the blast.

Atmos is responsible for the gas lines and infrastructure that are largely in public right-of-ways, such as under streets and sidewalks. Property owners are generally responsible for gas lines on their land or in their buildings.

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,” Chief Davis said in a statement Friday.

The temporary restraining order against cleanup at the explosion site signed by Dallas County Judge Sally Montgomery is intended to preserve evidence pertinent to Mira’s case.

The judge “having considered the Motion and the relief requested therein, is of the opinion that Plaintiff has shown that irreparable harm would occur if the debris from the explosion site at or near the Sandman Signature Fort Worth Hotel are cleaned up or removed,” the temporary restraining order states.

Mira’s lawyers are bringing in a cause and origin expert to investigate “where, how, and why the explosion occurred,” according to the release.

“We are going to do this the right way,” said Eric Marye of the Marye Law Firm in the release. “My client, and everyone involved, deserves to have the truth brought to light.”

Mira declined to speak with the Star-Telegram on Saturday morning.

He is asking for over $1 million in damages, but the amount of monetary relief will be determined by a jury if the case goes to trial, according to the lawsuit.

At least 21 people were injured by the powerful blast that caused significant damage to the basement and first two floors of the 20-story, century-old tower at 810 Houston St.

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.

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.

In a statement Saturday, Musume co-owner Josh Babb said, “We are learning more and more information every day about the turn of events last Monday at Musume/Sandman. We want more than anything to find out how the explosion occurred & how it could have been prevented. Our employees are our #1 focus right now & we will do anything & everything in our power to support them. Thank you to all for your kind words, prayers & encouragement during this time.”

Star-Telegram staff writer Cody Copeland contributed to this report.