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Subscribe to RSSA huge gas explosion thought to have been caused by a contractor doing underground work wrecked a landmark restaurant in Kansas City, Mo. More than 100 firefighters battled the blaze at its height, and by daybreak the devastation was revealed. NBC's John Yang reports.
Authorities pulled a body Wednesday from the wreckage of a landmark restaurant in Kansas City, Mo., where a natural gas explosion caused a spectacular fire.
At least 14 people were injured Tuesday night when a blaze tore through JJ’s Restaurant, part of an upscale business and shopping district. Searchers with cadaver dogs had sifted through the rubble for hours overnight looking for the lone person missing, a woman who worked at the restaurant.
The cause of the gas explosion remained under investigation. A statement released by Missouri Gas Energy said early indications were that a contractor doing underground work struck a natural gas line.
More than 100 firefighters responded to the 6 p.m. blast at JJ’s Restaurant in Country Club Plaza, an upscale business and shopping district of Kansas City. Flames shot up through the night sky, destroying the renowned Midwest dining spot as firefighters worked in below-freezing temperatures. The fire was largely under control a couple of hours later.
“JJ’s Restaurant is totally gone,” Kansas City Fire Department Chief Paul Berardi said.
David Frantzè, the restaurant owner's brother, said the loss of the beloved eatery is a major blow to the city.
"My brother just spent 27 years of his life running this business. He's built it into one of the fine restaurants in Kansas City," Frantzè said. "To come down here and to see a hole in the ground in flames is a pretty staggering experience."
Nearby residences and apartments suffered damage after the explosion and blaze, authorities said, including a building adjacent to the restaurant with a collapsed wall.
NBC News
Crews work near the smoldering remains at the scene of an explosion in Kansas City, Mo., on Feb. 20.
“There will be scattered damage throughout the immediate vicinity of the incident,” James said.
It was at first thought that two people might be missing in the blaze, but authorities said that one of those people was located at St. Luke’s Hospital around midnight.
With a major winter storm approaching, rescuers moved in heavy construction equipment on Wednesday to lift fallen debris, which was three to four feet thick over the floor of the destroyed eatery, Berardi said.
Witnesses told NBC station KSHB that they smelled natural gas in the area of the restaurant at least an hour before the explosion.
“KCFD are on the scene and will conduct a thorough investigation of what caused the explosion,” Berardi said. “We will continue to bring out the dogs and clear that scene and then an investigation will occur.”
JJ’s has been in business since 1985, and was widely regarded as a premier city dining location, earning a 93 rating from Zagat’s. The restaurant’s wine cellar had been listed by The Wine Spectator as among the finest in the world.
Authorities are still searching for possible victims after a natural gas explosion outside a popular restaurant sparked a five-alarm fire that injured at least 14 people. NBC's John Yang reports.
This story was originally published on Wed Feb 20, 2013 8:40 AM EST
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I just hope they find her at her boyfriends house or somewhere else safe. It would be a shame if they find her under the rubble.
You can always re-build but when it comes to life, you only get one............
Not many reasons to visit KC, and now there's one less. Pray for the missing girl.
Call before you dig....Dig?
this has nothing to do with the explosion.
this has nothing to do with the fire explosion
Five hours to evacuate the area for people's protection, and what was done?
Could some kindly hacker please destroy wilsonretards stupid @!$%#ing site??
hey guys, what do you think this valve does?
Doesn't Zagat score to 30? Not 100?
Too bad about the restaurant, and all that wine. I sincerely hope there are no casualties in the rubble.
A missing girl, many injured, and a destroyed wine cellar - many tragedies in this story.
Not the Wine...=/ I so feel for these people though...
They found her body in the rubble. Sadly there is one dead.
Hope the young woman is found safe. You can always rebuild but you cannot restore a life.
Did the structure fail due to the fire like WTC7 did on 911?
No, the massive gas explosion destroyed the 1-story building, appearing to come from the inside out. The gas leak had been reported hours earlier from a nearby construction site and progressively got worse. IMO, Missouri Gas Energy was criminally negligent in not shutting of the gas main when first reported and in not evacuating the area when their own workers' safety alarms were sounding.
(Warning-wise guy comment) How do they train 'cadaver dogs'? With pieces of meat?
Missouri Gas Energy did not cause the explosion. The contractor digging carelessly did. It is he who should be charged with reckless homicide.
When are they going to finish all of that construction anyway. It began many, many years ago! Also, is it true that the leak was reported hours earlier????? What is the source of that information? There are so many people that live in that square block, this could have been a much worse tragedy. Someone didn't care enough!
for all those commenting, listen to the last phrase that states the utility company believes that a contractor hit a gas line, ( damaging it) thus causing the explosion. i would love to hear if this contractor had inexperienced workers for 9$ an hour doing the job. there is a reason why we call it skilled labor, because in the past, you had to go through rigorous testing to prove your ability to be an electrician, carpenter, plumber ecc. my husband is a mechanical plumber, and he didnt become a supervisor until he had a good 8 years under his belt. we dont know yet if this is the problem, but i will bet that it is. contractors trying to hire cheap labor to do a big job. lets hope that no lives have been lost, and that the owner can rebuild his amazing resteraunt. i feel bad for him too!!!
I think you may be right about the poor quality workers, but I would look at that from the gas company lineup as well instead of just the construction crew. The leak had been detected by or before 1:00 pm, and the explosion occured almost 5 hours later. The callous disregard for life in not evacuating the area is inexplicable to me.
I completely agree
Yes, there are excellent reasons for hiring skilled labor and not whomever will work the cheapest.
There are also excellent reasons to have strong, honest labor unions. They do a darned good job of keeping the trades professional.
jkatze
ROTFLMAO!!! Where I'm at it's the union guys who do the worst work and take the longest time to get the job done. What's the incentive to do good work fast when your job doesn't remotely depend on it??
I agree. Instead of schools teaching everyone to be college bound, we need to teach interested students how to be excellent at the trades. There's a lot to know.
@ pditty - I've seem "skilled" labor do some amazingly stupid things. All you have to do is become complacent and Murphy will have you for lunch.
Yes "skilled" labor will have accidents, were human, and last I knew Jesus was a carpentar and not a lineman. It is more common for unskilled labor to have these accidents that endanger the public. Too many contractors looking to hire the cheapest labor they can to raise their profits. I was down on the plaza last year checking on some construction and there were alot of workers who only speak spanish. I know of a company that was working 13 year olds tearing out concrete during some of the Plaza's construction. I guess the period of contractors abusing their employees is still ongoing today.
@ Kcroofer - I don't think you can say that. These days hiring unsafe workers is a good way to ruin your business. If nothing else your worker's comp insurance premiums are based on your company's safety record and lost time accidents cause premiums to raise quickly lowering your profit. Also more and more clients refuse to hire companies that can't prove an excellent safety record.
Liability insurance premiums also climb rapidly due to payouts. If it's proved this contractor is at fault they are probably out of business unless they are a good sized contractor to absorb the huge costs coming their way shortly. The fines are going to be large, the lawsuits for the injured and dead are going to be huge and the suits for damage are going to be huge. Companies these days just don't hire lousy employees and figure it's not going to bite them in the ass. They may have some poor employees slip through, they may have employees that loose their concentration or become distracted at the wrong moment. There is a lot of things that may happen, but I doubt hiring lousy workmen is one of those things very often and for very long.
I'm sorry your in the blind. My job is too talk to construction workers daily. And yes there are alot of companies who hire the cheapest labor to get the bid. There's still too many people who take the lowest bid, and don't do their homework on a company they are hiring. Yes many "Good" contractors realize the cost in hiring low wage workers, but when the company shuts it's doors and opens up the next day under a new name doing the same thing. Low bids, cheap help, destroying construction wages and dodging taxes. Like I stated earlier the company knew they were using children for labor, but could care due to no regulation. Missouri's DOL has been under attack from the Republicans in our state congress who have taken their investigators to less than 3 for all state wide construction projects. No regulation allows for the cons to come out and prey on the unknowing.
I've work for a large union contractor. (Based in Missouri in fact - Though in STL.) I've worked all over the country. I've worked on lots of mixed jobsites and I just don't see that most of the problem is with "unskilled" labor. By far most of the grievous safety violations were by union employees which by definition should be considered skilled labor. The only fatalities I've ever seen, and sadly that's been far too many, were either owner caused or union member caused.
I will however say that it seems that overall jobsite safety seems to follow the lead of both the owner and construction manager.
I think Mr. Frantz should pull his head out of his ass. Things can be replaced, buildings can be rebuilt, but you can't replace people. Prayers to the womans family that she is found safe
I doubt that Mr. Frantzè is upset about the building instead of the lady that was killed. Could it be that he was saddened about both? Could it be that the man answered a question posed by the interviewer? It would be hard not to be a little saddened at the sight of 27 years of work going up in flames.
The wine cellar can never be replaced. There were bottles in there from the 1920's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, and 2000's. How can you replace that you uneducated fool?
He didn't mention the lost wine cellar, he mentioned the destroyed business that took 27 years to build. I thought it odd that such a statement would be made considering that an employee was missing at the time. Since she is now confirmed dead, the comment is insensitive or worse.
What good is wine from 30, 40, 50, 60, or even 90 years ago if it is just in a collection? If you can't drink it, it has no value to me. Since all of that wine has been destroyed, it means nothing.
A woman is dead due to negligence from the contractor and the utility. How do you rupture a gas line without knowing it? How does a utility not notice a spike in gas flow or a drop in line pressure? There was a report of a strong odor of gas at least an hour before the fatal blast, but no evacuations were ordered?...
Makes you wonder what their procedures are there if it was officially reported. A report of natural gas in the air here gets a response from FD and the utility.
Susan333, please remember this restaurant was the man's and his brother's life work. In the middle of a catastrophe, people are in shock and not prioritizing as they normally would. Also, the media provides sound bites only, and we don't know what else he said about his workers. I do know when they were first interviewing him they did not know if anyone was missing or not.
i understand that. and i know it must be hard for them to lose everything. but as i said above buildings can be rebuilt. this woman's life cannot be given back to her. the focus should be on why this happened, and why the gas company didn't shut off the gas, or evacuate. Not on how many years this man put into his business. they are all victims, from what they published it looks like this man only cares about the building and the work. not the dead and injured
Susan333, you should be voicing your concerns then to the reporter. Just because his comment about the establishment was in the article doesn't mean he was selfishly putting down the concern of an employee. Why don't you take your opinion to the reporter and/ or writer of the article and ask them what was said verbatim, before accusing him of being insensitive. I am sure "the man" cares more about a human life than a building.
Now you see it, now you don't. Ouch!
Not a fun time to be had in KC, especially at JJ's.
Do you just throw this drivel out here just to see your name on the web? This is one of the least intelligent comments I've seen posted here.
A preview of what can happen if the roads are full of cars with natural gas or hydrogen. I guarantee you there won't be any tailgating. A T-bone accident can be disastrous. KBOOM!!
What in the world are you talking about?
Pretty obvious. The dangers of compressed explosive gases. If you want natural gas cars or hydrogen cars, you are taking a huge risk. Where an accident with a gasoline car may result in a fire from which you can escape, a ruptured natural gas car will explode and you will be in little pieces. Even worse with a hydrogen car. Look what happened at this restaurant with a contractor just puncturing a hole in a natural gas pipe.
'Seeker, I'm an EMT and let me tell you a bit about T-bones ~ they are ugly . . .always.
Gasoline cars always so safe? Tell that to the families of the 27 people who burned to death when the Pinto they were in exploded.
The only valid solution is for people to drive soberly and responsibly. And don't start with the 'accident' red herring. A car crashing into a tree because the driver was going too fast for conditions is no accident. That sign that reads 45 mph? That 45 only applies legally under ideal conditions. You know, dry pavement, good light, no fog, etc etc.
If this weren't such a serious topic of discussion, I would wonder how in the world were 27 people able to fit into a Pinto?
Natural gas doesn't just explode. There's actually a very small window in which the combination of natural gas to oxygen is just right to actually cause an ignition. Obviously this hit just the right tolerance and there was something that ignited it. But there isn't an automatic explosion just because something is ruptured.
These types of explosions happen all the time. I believe the gas companies hire inexperienced people at low wages to work on these lines and this is the result.
I hope that there is no less of life and that the young person is found somewhere soon. Her family must be devastated right now.
The gas company had nothing to do with it. It was some idiot construction foreman who didn't have the location of the gas line clearly marked or the idiot manager who didn't even bother to call the gas company in advance to mark it.
Can't speak for this particular utility, but being in the industry I can tell you we do not employ low wage unskilled workers for those jobs.
Additionally it is possible the utility incorrectly marked the lines too. That happens.
I guess god-did-it. Ain't that right Kansas?
Actually, the Plaza is in Missouri.
Are Kansans ignorant?
At least we have the sense to look at a map before we decide where something is.
The Plaza is in Missouri, as DC pointed out.
Missouri is also a Union State. The personnell working on the gas line were most definitely "Union". The Plaza and downtown areas have been getting torn up for decades. It is a tradgedy that a life was lost in the explosion.
Mr. R you ignorance is bliss. Yes MO is a union state, but unions only hold a 10% market share in public and private jobs. So the likely hood of it being a union worker is actually low. And if you had any common knowledge of the Plaza you would know as of late they have been hiring low paid construction workers who are not in a union and have no training.
People should not make assumptions, especially if they do not know the people or circumstances involved. Susan333, if you knew anything about JJ's or the owners, you'd know that they are a very close knit "family" consisting of owners, employees and customers. Knowing the man Jimmie Frantze' is, he is probably chomping at the bit to get to the rubble and start digging for his beloved employee himself.
Hope the lady is found safe.
DAMN....love that place!
Cadaver dogs ? Wouldn't Live dogs work better ??
Look at all the jerks more concerned with their TV shows.
they may wanna check the roofs of nearby buildings....
"More than 100 hundred firefighters responded"
10,000 firefighters responded? Wow!
New Zealand cops find hatchback full of shackled sheep
..sorry im still processing this animal story... :-)
I grew up hanging out on the fabulous Country Club Plaza, though we never called it that. Only out-of-towners called it anything but "the Plaza"... a unique, outdoor extravaganza of restaurants, bars, clubs, theaters, galleries, shopping, art fairs, KC Phil concerts, cruising and hanging.
The dance club, Dirty Sally's (and much of that block) also detonated from leaking gas as a result of the Brush Creek flood in '77. I moved away soon after that to a place safe from floods and tornadoes...
L.A... Lol!! (Rumble, rumble...) .
Though I live far away, the hurt in seeing the Plaza impacted this way is deep. I feel badly for everyone involved and pray the missing young lady is safe.
You're right Keith, the Plaza IS a unique and lovely place - especially during the holidays. I lived in Leawood for about 15 years and always enjoyed hitting the shopping with my mom....and lots of great eaterys to choose from.
Our daughters now live in the KC area and we frequent the Plaza on almost every visit. JJ's was certainly on our go to list.
My thoughts go out to family/friends of everyone involved.
I'm really appalled at some of the comments here. A lot of people were injured. Someone lost their life and we are all hoping there aren't more victims that they are going to find once rubble is removed. This isn't funny and it sure isn't the time to start throwing blame out there. The area was being evacuated when the explosion happened. This was an ACCIDENT and there are a lot of people suffering right now.
I am curious as to why the KCFD came out before the explosion because of the gas complaints and left right before the explosion. They are trying to say that the Gas Co had it under control, and that they had the FD leave, someone in the FD made a bad call to leave the scene.
They get calls all of the time and they will go out but once they see the "experts" are dealing with it, they will leave. And at the time the MG & E were there and were working on it. There was no immediate danger. Even the staff at JJ's were taking their time closing up. No one thought anything like this would happen.
Yeah, no one thought !
Not out of the ordinary at all. Once the utility is one scene if there wasn't an actual fire/explosion before hand FD is often released.
I mean at that point what is FD doing to prevent anything from happening? It's the utilities job for shutting off the line, etc.
Ban restaurants & natural gas..."if we could just save one life" Just repeating what our liberal government has stated.
No.
Well .... THAT ranks as of of the more stupid, and insensitive, comments up here. I almost pity those who have such a low feeling of self worth they have to make EVERYTHING into extremist political drivel.
"My brother just spent 27 years of his life running this business. He's built it into one of the fine restaurants in Kansas City," Frantzè said. "To come down here and to see a hole in the ground in flames is a pretty staggering experience." Im sure the family of the missing woman whose body was probably found in the rubble thinks its a staggering experience too. The building can be rebuilt you tool!! Your workers life can't be. What a stupid thing to say.
My sympathies to all involved, what a horrible tragedy.
Alot of contractors have their own "subcontractors" aka....illegals.