Home Care In Fort Worth, TX

Events are back in full swing as evidenced by this week’s lengthy list. Start the week with a burger special, a brand new happy hour, and a Greek wine tasting. Then make plans for two tequila tastings (one with a female country music legend); an Indian-inspired afternoon tea; and a dinner celebrating the Lunar New Year of the dragon. Save room for bubbles and brunch at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo by week’s end.

Tuesday, January 23

Hen Burger Special at Fred’s It’s the last week to get this month’s over-the-top burger special at Fred’s Texas Café. The Hen Burger features an Angus patty topped with smoked ham, sugar-cured bacon, American cheese, a fried egg, and Fred’s signature Chuckwagon-inspired “hen butter.” The ensemble is $17 and comes with hand-cut fries, available at Fred’s Camp Bowie Blvd. location and Fred’s North on Western Center Blvd.

Greek Wine Tasting at The Fitzgerald The tasting includes four Greek wines paired with four light bites, including recipe cards and discounts on retail wine purchases. Price is $35 and the tasting begins at 6:30 pm.

Thursday, January 25

Rockfish 26th Anniversary PartyDallas-based seafood chain will celebrate its 26th anniversary with specials January 25–28, including $3.26 cups of gumbo, $6.26 shrimp, cheese, jalapeno and bacon “Bombs,” $2.26 jalapeno hush puppies, $4 domestic beers, and $6 Day at the Lake cocktails made with coconut rum, amaretto, orange juice, and grenadine. Rockfish has locations in Arlington, Frisco, Lewisville, McKinney, Richardson, and Southlake.

Meet the Maker: La Pulga at Toro Toro Visit the Latin-inspired restaurant inside Renaissance Worthington Hotel for a complimentary tasting of Fort Worth-backed La Pulga tequila. Open to both hotel guests and locals alike, the tasting will take place from 5–7 pm. Bonus: valet is free to Toro Toro guests.

Cosa Salvaje Tequila Tasting with Tanya Tucker at Joe T. Garcia’s Country music icon Tanya Tucker has her own line of tequila (including a pink-hued plata) and she’ll visit the Tex-Mex institution to meet fans and share some samples. Line up early for the exclusive chance to try Cosa Salvaje tequila and mingle with Tucker herself. The event will run from 6–7:30 pm.

Dinner with The Wine Wrangler at Hot Box Biscuit Club Local wine guru JR Clark, otherwise known as The Wine Wrangler, will visit Hot Box Biscuit Club for a rodeo-inspired wine pairing dinner. Standout menu items include a fried crawfish topped deviled egg, roasted poblano and garlic soup, and seared hangar steak with TX Whiskey Cowboy Butter. The dinner is $65 and begins at 6:30 pm.

Saturday, January 27

Winter Fest 2024 at Martin House Brewing Company The annual event will have an '80s theme this year, so break out the brightly-colored ski gear. Martin House will host comedian Joseph Rosenzweig for a family-friendly set from 2–2:45 pm, and there’ll be an '80s cover band, grub by gastrovan Barley, fire pits, hot chocolate for the kids, and around 45 beers and seltzers available for sipping. The $20 ticket cost covers four beers and a souvenir pint glass, and the event will run from 12–5 pm.

Beyond Borders Hosted by the Fort Worth Food + Wine Foundation and set to take place at Whiskey Ranch, this multi-course dinner will unite three James Beard recognized chefs: Tom Perini of Perini Ranch, Michael Fojtasek of Olamaie in Austin, and Rodrigo Cardenas of Don Artemio. Menu highlights include prime rib-wrapped Peking duck, blue corn fried masa with beans and chicharron, and sourdough bread pudding with whiskey sauce. Dinner will conclude with a chef panel discussion led by Patricia Sharpe of Texas Monthly magazine. The event is $250, which includes paired cocktails by TX Whiskey and La Pulga Spirits, and begins at 6:30 pm.

Sunday, January 28

Bubbles & Bites Brunch at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo The perfect precursor to a Sunday matinee rodeo is brunch with bubbly. The fifth annual event, to be held on the rodeo grounds, will feature bites from more than a dozen local chefs and restaurants and various wines for sampling. Participating restaurants include Don Artemio, JD’s Hamburgers, Joe T. Garcia’s, Magdelena’s, il Modo, Roy Pope Grocery, and more. Tickets are $65 and the event will run from 11 am–1:30 pm.

Indian Inspired Afternoon Tea at Indulge Warm up with a sweet and savory Sunday tea party influenced by Indian flavors at the downtown culinary studio. Menu items will include chicken puff patties, Bombay sandwiches with cilantro-mint chutney, crunchy chaat cups, scones with clotted cream and jam, and sweets like Indian shortbread and cashew fudge to sip with black, herbal, and masala chai tea. Tickets are $65 and the tea begins at 2 pm.

Monday, January 29

Lunar New Year Dinner at Hao’s Grocery & Café This communal dinner will celebrate Lunar New Year with traditional Chinese dishes, include hot and sour soup, pork dumplings, mapo tofu, char siu barbecue pork, cherry garlic sticky ribs, vegetable chow mein, and orange chicken. Dinner is $50 (BYOB) and begins at 6 pm.

If your New Year’s resolutions include dining at a new restaurant, you’re in luck. Over the past few weeks, several new restaurants have opened in and around Fort Worth, from a new burger spot to an exciting French and Asian fusion restaurant to a Malaysian cafe.

For the January edition of Where to Eat, it’s all about new.

Gusto’s Burger Bar + MoreSmashburger virtuoso Jonathan Arguello moves from food truck to a brick and mortar spot at 1229 7th Ave., the historic, Near Southside bungalow best known as the original location of another burger haven, The Bearded Lady. Now that he has more leg room in the kitchen, Arguello has expanded his small menu to include several new smashburgers, including the Sweet Heat Burger, topped with grilled jalapenos and housemade salsa, and the It Is Possible Burger, which is made with an Impossible patty. There are sliders, too, along with sides such as excellent, hand-cut French fries, plus a huge selection of beer. The killer patio offers great views of Magnolia Avenue.

Enchiladas OleThe third location of Mary Perez Vasquez’s popular enchilada emporium takes over the west side space at 6473 Camp Bowie Blvd., recently vacated by the shortly lived Boozie’s Brewery & Gourmet Sandwiches. The restaurant offers nearly a dozen variations of its namesake dish, with fillings such as brisket and cheddar, curry chicken, veggie, and ground beef. Enchiladas come topped in your choice of seven housemade sauces, ranging from mole to queso. The menu also includes Tex Mex staples like tostados, nachos, and quesadillas.

Hudson HouseUpscale American restaurant, at 4600 Dexter Ave., in Arlington Heights, comes from Dallas, but it lands in a building that means a lot to Fort Worth: Originally built as an ice house in the 1920s, it was the longtime home to Celebration, one of the city’s most popular restaurants (and, coincidentally, another Dallas-born concept) throughout the late ‘80s and ‘90s. The menu is heavy on seafood, with fresh oysters, sushi, blackened white fish tacos, and a sizable lobster roll, and American classics, such as the popular double-patty burger, steak frites with truffle fries, and a popcorn chicken salad. To drink, there are signature cocktails, a long list of martinis, and wines by the glass and bottle. Daily happy hour includes $10 burgers, $3 oysters, and half price martinis, bellinis, and wine by the glass.

Malacca CafeMalaysian and Singapore-inspired food isn’t easy to find in these parts, so this new family-run spot in Southlake, at 2120 E. Southlake Blvd., is worth celebrating. The expansive menu includes nasi lemak, a popular Malaysian dish made up of coconut milk rice, curry chicken, anchovies, boiled egg, and sliced cucumbers; Singaporean-style hokkien mee, a dish consisting of noodles braised with sliced pork, prawn, fish cake, and squid; and yong tau foo, a hearty soup made with eggplant, fried tofu, melon, and beancurd skin stuffed with fish and meat paste. For less adventurous appetites, the restaurant offers straightforward renditions of Asian staples, such as pad thai, pineapple fried rice, and hot and sour soup.

MeguClassy new French and Asian restaurant opened recently on the ground floor of the Campus Office Tower building at 3113 S. University Dr., in the TCU-area space last occupied by Overflow Coffee Co. The concept comes from chef/owner Peter Liang, who ran similar concepts in New York and Weatherford. The restaurant is practically a two-person show, with Liang greeting guests, taking orders, and making the food himself, with longtime service industry worker Crystal Richey assisting. Liang and Richey will guide you through the absolutely huge menu, which consists of French staples such as French onion soup, pan-seared ostrich, and steak au poivre, and Japanese noodle and rice favorites, along with a vast array of beautifully presented, and often imaginative, sushi and sashimi dishes. Liang freely chats with guests throughout their meal, creating a highly interactive, and memorable, dining experience.

Papi’s Tacos & MoreTiny Mexican restaurant on the Benbrook traffic circle, at 3520 Alta Mere Dr., takes over the pint-sized building best known as Salsa Fuego’s original home. This is the third location of Papi’s and the first in Fort Worth. Owners Joshua Vasquez and his wife Nayely Eillanuva run two other stores in Kentucky, where Vasquez was stationed while in the military. The couple specialize in Tex Mex and Mex Mex tacos, with fillings ranging from birria and seasoned ground beef to tripe and lengua. They’re cheap, too; most are $2.50. They also serve burritos big enough to feed two and an assortment of breakfast dishes such as chilaquiles, available all day.

Sabar BarbecueOpen just one day a week, Saturdays from 11 am-3 pm (or sold out), this new food trailer in the South Main area offers a Pakistani twist on Texas barbecue, a refreshing change of pace from the barbecue norm. Instead of pork ribs, there are smoked lamb ribs and in place of sausage, there’s seekh kebab, their porkless version of sausage. Smoked brisket looks traditional but is made with a rub that includes ingredients such as coriander. Likewise, thick slices of turkey incorporate flavors commonly associated with tandoori chicken. Sides include dal chawal, a lentils and rice dish, and fruit chaat, a refreshing fruit salad. In place of ho-hum bread: thick slices of naan. The trailer comes from Zain Shafi, who comes from good barbecue lineage, having worked at No. 1-ranked Goldee's BBQ. A cool and creative addition to Fort Worth’s ‘cue scene.

VBQ SmokehouseOn the other side of the BBQ coin is this vegan BBQ startup restaurant-inside-a-restaurant operating out of Mariachi's Dine-In at 5724 Locke Ave., where it's serving Southern plant-based barbecue, fixins, desserts, and cocktails. Founder Hank Storm has cooked at many DFW vegan restaurants including Spiral Diner, Vegan Food House, and V Eats. (He currently works at Mariachi's on Thursdays-Saturdays.) Open Sundays-Mondays only, VBQ does vegan brisket platters with sides such as mac & cheese, spicy green beans, coleslaw, and baked beans. On Sundays they do brunch: raspberry glazed burnt end brisket on a homemade blueberry waffle with raspberry coulee; potato hash with tofu scramble; and a mixed berry crumble parfait bowl. On Mondays, they do a brisket mac burger, brisket mac tacos, brisket elote, and chopped brisket sandwiches.

FORT WORTH – TCU found yet another way to emit in full across the national radar on Tuesday.

The Horned Frogs rallied past UCF 66-60 in Schollmaier Arena just five days after holding open tryouts due to compounding injuries.

TCU played the game without its top three scorers in Sedona Prince (21.2 ppg), Madison Conner (21 ppg) and Jaden Owens (7.8 ppg) and was down multiple other scholarship players.

The win was so significant that it led to a postgame feature on SportsCenter for head coach Mark Campbell, who ensured TCU (15-4, 2-6 Big 12) will enter postseason play with a winning record for the first time in four seasons.

The Horned Frogs added four walk-ons in the hours leading into Tuesday's tilt, including dual-sport standout Sarah Sylvester. A 6-3 middle blocker for TCU volleyball, Sylvester checked into the game with a minute remaining in the third quarter to a thunderous ovation.

TCU stared down a 56-51 deficit – its largest of the game – with eight minutes to play. The Horned Frogs scored on three consecutive trips down court to dwindle the knights' lead to one possession.

From there, TCU closed the game on a 9-0 run and held the Knights (9-8, 0-7 Big 12) scoreless over the final 4:16. The Horned Frogs harassed UCF into a turnover on five of its final seven possessions.

Victoria Flores orchestrated a steal near the top of the key into a coast-to-coast layup to give the Horned Frogs the lead for good at 62-60 with 1:18 to go.

Agnes Emma-Nnopu put the game on ice from there, going 4-4 at the foul line over the final 18 seconds.

TCU outscored the Knights by a combined 42-27 margin over the first and fourth frames and led following the conclusion of every quarter.

Emma-Nnopu paired 10 points with a game-leading eight rebounds.

Aaliyah Roberson tallied a team-high 17 points on 8-10 shooting in her first career start at the five.

Sydney Harris and Una Jovanovic gave TCU four scorers in double figures, respectively finishing with 14 points and 10 points.

Tara Manumaleuga paced TCU's offense behind a game and career-high seven assists.

TCU implemented the 5-out motion offense in the wake of Prince and Owens' injuries. Early on, the pivot in philosophy yielded immediate returns.

The Horned Frogs canned 10 of their first 11 field goals, five of which came from behind the arc, to triple up the Knights 24-8 less than seven minutes into the ballgame.

Harris buried three of her four makes from distance in the opening frame. Roberson kept pace in the period with seven points of her own.

UCF whittled TCU's early advantage down to two at 33-31 entering the intermission.

Consecutive 3-pointers by Jovanovic, followed by a pair of free throws from Emma-Nnopu, capped an 8-2 TCU scoring spurt that widened the team's edge to 46-37 at the 5:18 mark of the quarter.

The Knights lanced back with a 10-o run over the ensuing 1:51 of play to go in front by a point.

Harris pocketed five points in TCU's final two possessions of the frame and gave TCU a one-point edge entering the fourth quarter.

TCU finished with a 19-12 advantage in assists.

The Horned Frogs held UCF to a 21 percent clip (3-14) from behind the arc.

Up Next

TCU jaunts to west Texas to battle Texas Tech (14-6, 3-4 Big 12) at 2 p.m. on Saturday at United Supermarkets Arena.

Team Notes

Individual Notes

FORT WORTH, Texas - Texas Christian University’s women’s basketball team returned to the court for the first time since forfeiting two games with four new players suiting up.

TCU took a nail-biting victory over the University of Central Florida Tuesday night at Schollmaier Arena.

MORE: TCU Horned Frogs News

The Horned Frogs were forced to forfeit games against Kansas State and Iowa State last week after injuries and illness cut their roster short.

In an effort to fix the problem, the team held open tryouts at the end of last week.

Now, guards Piper Davis, Ella Hamlin, and Mekhayia Moore are on the team, along with dual-sport athlete Sarah Sylvester.

Hamlin is a freshman nursing student from Granbury. Her dad made the drive to Fort Worth Tuesday to watch his daughter suit up in her first collegiate game.

"Ella has been playing since she was in third grade, but she decided not to play in college because she wanted to go to TCU and be in the nursing program to be a nurse," he said. "To have this opportunity, she has been in the gym ever since last season, and she loves the game of basketball."

Hamlin graduated from Granbury High School last year following a four-year varsity run on the basketball team, where she was crowned offensive MVP of the district twice.

Her former Lady Pirates teammates were also in attendance Tuesday along with her former coach, Alan Thorpe.

"She was a coach’s dream," he said. "You get those players every now and then. She was one of them."

Freshman Piper Davis and sophomore Mekhayia Moore played on their varsity teams in high school and are both state champs.

Davis led her Idaho high school to a 5A state title.

Moore is from Brownsboro, Texas, near Tyler. In 2022, she was awarded MVP at the championship game.

Also new to the team is now-TCU dual sports star Sarah Sylvester. The 6’3" sophomore is on the TCU volleyball team and also played basketball at her high school in Michigan.

Horned Frog fans were cheering extra loud Tuesday for the student athletes now able to take the court again.

"They’ve had a lot of injuries and problems, but they are a good team. A good bunch of girls," said TCU alumni Brent English. "I want to see them win."

The team has 10 more games this season.

Last week’s forfeits won’t count against the team’s overall record, but they will likely impact their conference standing. TCU drops to 1-6 in the Big 12.

The Horned Frogs haven’t made it to the NCAA tournament since 2010.

It looked like that drought may have changed this year with the team’s promising start to the season.

Mark Campbell took over as head coach, leading the team to a 14-0 start before the injuries began to pile up.

Fortunes may be turning around for Okla. State after losing five in a row. Sitting on a score of 37-33, they have looked like the better team, but there's still one more half to play. This contest is far closer than the pair's previous matchup, which was decided by 25 points.

Okla. State came into the match with some extra motivation after the defeat they were dealt the last time these two teams faced off. We'll see if they're able to flip the script or if it'll just be more of the same.

TCU Horned Frogs @ Okla. State Cowboys

Current Records: TCU 13-5, Okla. State 8-10

We've got another exciting Big 12 matchup on schedule as the TCU Horned Frogs and the Okla. State Cowboys are set to tip at 9:00 p.m. ET on January 23rd at Gallagher-Iba Arena. TCU has insisted on making their lastthree contests complete nail-biters, turning in a record of 1-2 during that stretch of close contests.

The point spread may have favored TCU last Saturday, but the final result did not. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 73-72 to the Cyclones. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for TCU in their matchups with Iowa State: they've now lost four in a row.

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Trevian Tennyson, who scored 19 points. He continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played.

Meanwhile, Okla. State's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Saturday after their fifth straight loss. They fell to the Wildcats 70-66.

Like TCU, Okla. State lost despite seeing results from several players. Eric Dailey Jr. led the charge by scoring 15 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Javon Small, who scored 11 points along with eight rebounds and five assists.

The Horned Frogs' defeat ended a ten-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 13-5. As for the Cowboys, they bumped their record down to 8-10 with that defeat, which was their fourth straight on the road.

Looking ahead to Tuesday, TCU is the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by 4.5 points.

TCU took their victory against Okla. State in their previous matchup back in February of 2023 by a conclusive 100-75. With TCU ahead 47-27 at the half, the game was all but over already.

TCU is a 4.5-point favorite against Okla. State, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 4.5-point spread, and stayed right there.

The over/under is set at 144.5 points.

See college basketball picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine's advanced computer model. Get picks now.

TCU has won 6 out of their last 10 games against Okla. State.

A massive explosion at a hotel in Texas left at least 21 people injured while others were trapped in the basement and needed to be rescued on Monday, officials said.

The blast took place at the Sandman Signature Hotel at historic 20-story building in downtown Fort Worth after an apparent gas explosion, according to fire officials.

Rescue teams were desperately searching the remainder of the building for potential victims on Monday evening.

“We had reports of people trapped down in the basement, and because of the explosion that took place, some of those access areas were either covered up or it didn’t feel safe at that point to get people down into,” said Craig Trojacek, a spokesperson for the Fort Worth Fire Department.

At least 21 people were being treated for injuries in what fire officials called a “major incident.”

One person was listed in critical condition and two others were serious. The rest had minor injuries, authorities said at a news conference.

Witness Rebecca Martinez was in nearby buildings when she heard a loud crack before a wall of dust and debris sweep through the city streets

When she stepped outside to see what happened, she came upon a man and a woman leaned up against a fire hydrant.

“The man was all bloody, his face was all bloody,” Martinez said. “Then I started smelling natural gas, real intense and I thought, ‘I might need to get away from here.’”

Images from the scene showed shattered glass and splintered debris strewn out across the street.

“There was debris. There was insulation. There was office furniture,” Charlie Collier, 31, told The Associated Press. “Everything that was in the first couple floors of the building was blown out all over the street.”

The 245-room Sandman Signature Fort Worth Downtown Hotel dates to 1920, according to the hotel’s website. The building, known as “The Waggoner Building,” has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979.

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he had been in contact with local officials following the blast and was ready to “immediately deploy any additional personnel and resources needed to keep Texans in the area safe and out of harm’s way.”

With Post Wires

At least 21 people are injured after an explosion Monday rippled through the bottom floors of a hotel building in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, authorities said.

One person was in critical condition and four others were seriously injured, MedStar spokesperson Matt Zavadsky said at a news briefing Monday. The rest had minor injuries.

Craig Trojacek, a spokesperson for the Fort Worth Fire Department, said the first call of a fire at Sandman Signature Fort Worth Downtown Hotel was received at around 3:32 p.m. local time. Multiple calls about an explosion came in after.

The smell of gas permeated through downtown Fort Worth, Trojacek later said, adding that investigators are confident the blast was "some kind of gas explosion."

Photos of the explosion showed windows and debris blown out and scattered across the street. Authorities urged people to avoid the area.

Desiree Partain of MedStar, which provides ambulance and emergency medical services in Fort Worth, said medics treated four people on the scene but did not take them to a hospital.

According to Trojacek, investigators are working with federal investigators to determine the cause of the blast. The scene, Trojacek added, had left rescue teams unable to immediately reach some parts of the building.

"We had reports of people trapped down in the basement, and because of the explosion that took place, some of those access areas were either covered up or it didn’t feel safe at that point to get people down into," Trojacek said.

Developing into the evening:For an update, sign up for the Evening Briefing.

'Very loud and very violent'

The 245-room Sandman Signature Fort Worth Downtown Hotel dates to 1920, according to the hotel’s website, as is located in a busy area of downtown about one block from the Fort Worth Convention Center.

Trojacek said a restaurant in the building had been under construction but said it was not definitive that is where the blast occurred.

Mike Vanca was staying at the hotel but was not inside when the explosion happened. He was in a nearby office and still felt the shockwave from the explosion.

"The building shook like someone slapped the side of it with your hand," Vanca told KDFW. "So it was very loud and very violent."

Hunter Chacon, an employee at nearby Wicked Butcher, told the Dallas Morning News thathe arrived to downtown shortly after the blast as first responders were still pouring in. He ran toward the commotion before he was stopped about three blocks from the hotel.

“From there, I could definitely smell the gas,” Chacon said.

Contributing: Associated Press

An explosion that blew out at least two floors of a high-rise hotel and injured nearly two dozen people in downtown Fort Worth on Monday afternoon is suspected of being caused by a natural gas leak, according to the ATF and Fort Worth Fire Department.

The explosion was reported at the Sandman Signature Fort Worth Hotel in the 800 block of Houston Street at about 3:30 p.m. Since that time a two-block area has been blocked off in downtown where the smell of natural gas persists, officials say.

The Fort Worth Fire Department is leading the investigation into the explosion and said while they have not yet confirmed the cause of the explosion there was ongoing construction in the building and that the explosion was likely caused by a gas leak. The ATF, who had agents at the scene, agreed.

"There is a smell of gas here in downtown. We're not sure if the smell of gas was caused from the explosion and the fire itself or if that's what caused the explosion. But that's what we're looking at," said Craig Trojacek with the Fort Worth Fire Department.

Late Monday afternoon, Trojacek said 26 rooms at the hotel were occupied when the explosion occurred. A search of the building was completed at about 5:30 p.m. and no additional victims were found. Trojacek said the stability of the building would be assessed after the search and rescue was complete.

At 6 p.m., Trojacek and MedStar Ambulance's Matt Zavadsky said the number of injured in the blast increased from 11 to 21 and that one person who had been reported missing had been found. Zavadsky said 20 people were either treated at the scene or transported to area hospitals including one person who was in critical condition, four who were in serious condition, and 14 who were in minor condition. One person, officials said, walked into JPS on their own after the explosion.

There have been no fatalities reported.

The restaurant inside the hotel, Musume, said in a statement they were devastated by the explosion but that thankfully they were closed at the time. They said there were no customers present but that three employees who were working inside the restaurant were injured and were in stable condition Monday afternoon being treated at an area hospital.

From Texas Sky Ranger, at least two floors of the building's 8th Street facade were blown out onto the street and into a parking lot on the west side. The explosion appears to have also damaged the sidewalk, exposing the building's lower floors.

A man who was working in a nearby coffee shop told NBC 5 he heard the explosion and initially thought it was a clap of thunder. He said when he went outside he saw debris and white smoke coming from the building.

Adam Woods, a valet worker, said he was walking in the area when another valet worker told him to avoid 8th Street.

"The whole first floor, the Sandman Hotel, right next to the garage where we park our cars … it's like, everything is blown up. People coming out of the building … it was kinda scary. I don't know what to think," Woods said. "I was 3 to 5 seconds from turning down the street. It could have been me. I seen [sic] a lady she was walking down that street as well and she got caught up in it. It's very sad."

PHOTOS: Hotel explosion rocks downtown Fort Worth

Tarrant County Judge Tim O'Hare said he has directed staff at downtown county buildings to close for the day, excluding jails and law enforcement. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statement Monday afternoon saying he was ready to "immediately deploy any additional personnel and resources needed to keep Texans in the area safe and out of harm’s way."

Atmos Energy is at the hotel working with the fire department to turn off the gas supply. The ATF is at the scene assisting and a spokesperson for the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates natural gas pipeline systems in the state) confirmed to NBC 5 that the agency is sending an inspector to the site.

The explosion took place inside the W.T. Waggoner Building, a 20-story tower that sits along 8th Street between Houston and Throckmorton and was built more than 100 years ago. According to the hotel, when the building first opened in 1920 the National Bank of Commerce occupied the lobby and remained there until 1957. On July 10, 1979, the W.T. Waggoner Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and in 1985 it underwent restoration to become home to XTO Energy. In 2019, the property was acquired by Northland Properties and remodeled into the 245-room Sandman Signature Fort Worth Downtown Hotel. The CEO of Northland Properties is Dallas Stars owner Tom Gaglardi.

Fire officials confirmed construction was ongoing at the hotel, but the nature of the construction and whether or not it contributed to the blast has not been determined.

If you suspect a natural gas leak, leave the area immediately! From a safe distance call 911 and Atmos Energy's 24-hour toll-free emergency number at 1-866-322-8667.

This is a developing story and it will be updated as more information becomes available.

On Wednesday, Bella Hadid posted a photo slideshow on Instagram that began with her hugging a horse named Tito. She wore a distinctive Western-style cowboy hat, chaps, and her hair in braids—an outfit, the next video in the carousel showed, that was selected for her first cutting horse event held at Taylor Sheridan’s Bosque Ranch in the Fort Worth suburb of Weatherford. “Never stop trying new things,” she wrote. “I feel lucky enough to have the opportunity to keep learning in life. Thank you Tito, I will never stop loving on you like this!”

Hadid’s reason for being in the Lone Star State is likely a romantic one, as the model is rumored to be dating rodeo star Adan Banuelos. (In October 2023, paparazzi captured them kissing in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards, where, twice daily, a longhorn cattle drive takes place in the streets.) All the same, her love for a horse named Tito and the rodeo reflects a growing affection for the famous cowboy city nicknamed “Cowtown.”

Hadid isn’t the only person discovering the magic of Fort Worth: The city’s tourism board found that a record 10.8 million people visited the area in 2022. And last month, Bowie House—a new five-star property from Auberge Resorts—opened in the city’s Cultural District to spectacular fanfare: on its first night in business, there was already a large Lucchese-clad crowd clamoring to get in.

To call Bowie (pronounced “Boo-wee”) House’s interiors “western” feels diminutive, especially as it’s owned by Jo Ellard, a National Cutting House Association Hall of Fame Rider. Sure, there are cow-print chairs and fringed lamps reminiscent of a leather cowboy jacket. And yes, there are equestrian photographs everywhere. But where so many hotels channel that aesthetic in a way that feels like they’re manufacturing a Disneyland-esque stage set for tourists eager to cosplay cowboy, Bowie feels like the living room of a real-life lasso thrower.

Because, well, it is: many of the pieces in Bowie House came from Ellard herself. An old dresser by the elevator for example, once sat in a room at her ranch. Meanwhile, the art comes from her thoughtful personal 400-piece collection, which she built over 15 years with purchases at Art Basel in both Miami and Switzerland. (It also includes contemporary works by street artist Hijack, David Bates, and Ashley Collins, whom Ellard credits with taking her to “the next level of art appreciation.”)

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The focal point of the lobby is a restored 200-year-old bar that Ellard found at an auction house in Waco, Texas. “It's a true saloon kind of bar,” says Kemper Hyers, Auberge’s chief creative officer. “The craftsmanship is absolutely unbelievable.”

Ellard says the goal of Bowie House was to capture the soul of Fort Worth. “We adhere to the Western lifestyle we love: We may spend our week in the city doing our business, building our companies, raising our families, but instead of going playing golf at the country club on the weekend, we're going to the ranch getting on tractors and horses,” she says of her city. She also notes its impressive cultural panache: both the internationally-renowned Kimbell Art Museum and Museum of Modern Art are just half a mile away from Bowie House. “Fort Worth is a very sophisticated city—it just happens to have this Western identity and influence,” she says. Adds Hyers: “The hotel isn’t cartoony, it’s not obvious.”

There are 106 luxuriously appointed guest rooms at Bowie House, attracting tourists in town for rodeo season as well as stay-cationers from the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. Yet, come nighttime, the hotel is packed with way more than those with room keys in their pocket. The restaurant, Brick & Horses, is booked solid for months, while there’s rarely a free seat at the Lobby Bar and the adjacent game room—even at their closing time of 2 a.m. (When a bartender announced last call, this writer witnessed a diamond-dripping patron simply asking if she could reach over and just grab the open bottle of red behind the counter.) At that moment, I knew my first Fort Worth rodeo certainly wasn’t going to be my last.

Two weeks ago, I was on an amazing National Geographic Expedition to Antarctica, where it is summertime with sunny days in the low 30s. Back home in Fort Worth, frigid temperatures from 11 to 16 degrees had paralyzed the city. I smugly chuckled at the contrast.

In Antarctica, the breeze was so mild, my husband and I kayaked around icebergs and hiked, without hats or gloves, to penguin-nesting grounds.

Ding!

Was I really receiving a text at the bottom of the globe? Yes. A digital message alerted me that 7,000 miles away in Ridglea Hills a pipe had burst at my home. A pedestrian saw a river rushing from the house into the street. He posted an alert on the neighborhood Facebook page. Recognizing the address, a friend texted me. With her help, plumbers were summoned to turn off the water. A neighbor with a house key led the plumbers indoors to survey damage from the deluge. Up to 3 inches of water was on the floor.

Wintry weather often catches Texans off guard, even though snow and ice predictably strike in January during the Stock Show. More than a century ago, on Jan. 6, 1910, when Fort Worth had a 5-inch snowfall, coal was in short supply. Horses pulling coal wagons struggled and slipped in the slush and ice. Teamsters filled coal wagons only to the halfway mark to lighten the load.

A day earlier, temperatures had soared to a balmy 79 degrees, then plummeted below freezing by 11 a.m. Icicles coated trolley wires. Snow accumulated on streetcar tracks.

Children, happy that the snow was wet enough to make great snowballs, gathered on street corners, piled up ammunition, formed teams, and let loose with bombardments. During a contentious school board meeting, protesters hurled snowballs at trustees.

Twenty years later in 1930, Lake Worth froze from shore to shore with 7-inch-thick ice. With the mercury well below freezing from Jan. 15 to 23, skaters performed figure eights day and night. Cars intentionally skidded across the glassy surface. Motorcyclists spun in circles. Ice fishing drew dozens.

Ten years later, on Jan. 19, 1940, Lake Worth again “froze solid,” the Star-Telegram reported. The first deep freeze in a decade paralyzed Texas from the Panhandle to the Gulf. In Corpus Christi, fresh vegetables, packed and ready for market, spoiled. Fort Worth firefighters carried torches to thaw ice. Car radiators froze. (Antifreeze was not commonly used until after World War II.) Engine blocks cracked.

Lake Worth again turned into a glassy sheet. This time the ice was only 2 inches thick — yet firm enough for figure skaters to perform encores. Police counted up to 500 migrating geese stuck in the lake.

The Big Freeze of ’83, from Dec. 18 to Dec. 30, 1983, was the first prolonged cold spell my family experienced. For 12 days, we were marooned at home — with out-of-town company, no less. No residential streets were sanded. City crews working 12-hour shifts were too busy repairing water mains. An average of 135 pipes a day burst. During the days before and after Christmas, shopping malls were virtually empty. The Star-Telegram launched a Water Repairman’s Appreciation Fund to award bonuses to municipal laborers doing wet work in the frigid air that blew in from the Yukon.

Ice storms in 2011 turned into a public relations disaster for the Metroplex. Super Bowl XLV at Jerry World had promised to be a showcase for the Cowboys’ $1.3 billion stadium in Arlington and the region’s Sun Belt weather. Instead, snow and ice storms canceled more than 300 flights. Sheets of ice slid off the stadium roof, injuring contractors the NFL hired to prepare the stadium for the game. Lawsuits piled up.

Dubbed a Super Mess with sub-zero windchills, vendors sold ski caps instead of cowboy hats. Sportswriters joked that Arlington could have hosted the Iditarod. The cold did not phase visiting NFL players from Pittsburgh and Green Bay, where the mercury hovered between 17 and 20 degrees. The jubilant Green Bay Packers, with a 31-25 win, fittingly returned home with the Vince Lombardi trophy.

Complaints surfaced about ERCOT — the Electric Reliability Council of Texas — which manages the state’s power grid. ERCOT exempted the stadium from rolling power blackouts, yet two Arlington hospitals were not spared and had to switch to back-up generators.

ERCOT was blamed a decade later when Arctic air masses paralyzed Texas for 10 days from Feb. 10-20, 2021. Foreshadowing the mounting catastrophe was what meteorologists dubbed “The Fort Worth Pileup” on Feb. 11. Over 130 vehicles skidding and jack-knifing on black ice crashed into one another on a half-mile, tollway stretch of Interstate 35, leading to six deaths. Statewide, power plants failed; gas production plummeted 45 percent; 3.6 million homes lost power. Property damage and deaths of at least 246 people reached a historic scale.

Tarrant County’s recent January cold snap, thankfully, can’t compare. For only three straight days, temperatures remained below freezing. City crews repaired 24 water-main breaks.

At my house, insurance will cover the damage. Neighbors and friends quickly formed a team. A water mitigation crew was at work by the time we reached Texas three days later. Social media and cell phone technology limited the damage of the deluge that swept through a swath of our home. Judged against previous winters, this January’s weather was mild.

Hollace Ava Weiner, an archivist, historian, and author, is director of the Fort Worth Jewish Archives.

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