Stampede, an iconic Fort Worth gay bar, was heavily damaged in a fire early Thursday. Q Cinema founder and Fort Worth LGBT leader Todd Camp initially speculated that the blaze may have been arson, given recent events involving the Rainbow Lounge. However, The Dallas Morning News is reporting that authorities believe it was an electrical fire. Senior Editor Tammye Nash, who lives in Fort Worth, is on her way to the scene. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: I just spoke with Lt. Kent Worley of the Fort Worth Fire Department, and he confirmed that investigators don’t suspect any foul play in the fire, which caused $60,000 in damage to the building and its contents. Worley said the fire broke out just before 2 a.m., when a manager and some employees noticed smoke coming from a storage area.
“They tried to put it out and it just got away from them,” Worley said. “It was put under control pretty quickly once we got there.”
Worley said the fire is believed to be accidental and electrical in part because it started in an area where there were a lot of electrical plugs.
We’ll have a full story in Friday’s Voice.
12 Comments
How sad. I guess someone will be collecting insurance.
Word is that the Stampede was going to be closing in December anyway so it does seem kinda suspicious.
Quick clarification: I didn’t “speculate” that it was arson, I said I really hope it wasn’t arson. I only saw a quick look at the aftermath on my way to the train station this morning with absolutely no facts to go on. Hope to hear more ASAP.
I stopped at the bar once when I was stranded in Fort Worth on a Saturday nite. Uhhhhh…what’s “legendary” about this place?? I did a tour of Fort Worth gay bars that night and I guess legendary is just being a gay bar in Fort Worth. Sorry, but the very few gay bars in Fort Worth are awful.
@TJ
I’m assuming you’re not from around here? Stampede used to be known as the Corral Club until an owner/name change a few years ago. In years past, the club has hosted some very successful fundraisers, one of them being Rhonda Mae’s Wall of Food, which benefits the various AIDS/HIV charities in Tarrant County on an ongoing basis. You might not like the bars in Fort Worth, but we like ’em just fine, thank-you-very-much!
@ Chris
Right I’m not from around here, so I’m not familiar with what’s “legendary” in your town. Thanks for the education about that fabulous Wall of Food. And sorry if I got you fired up. But you’re right, I don’t like the bars in fort worth or much else for that matter. So don’t worry, I won’t be back and you can have your legenday dark, dank, depressing seedy bars to yourself.
@TJ
For starters, my name is CHIP not CHRIS.
Secondly, yes you did get me fired up, I’ve been at Stampede many times over the years for wonderful fundraisers to help those in our community who truly need it. I take exception when someone such as yourself disrespects a facility that has worked so hard to give back. I don’t know what night you went there, but I’ve never known the place to be a “dark, dank, depressing seedy bar” as you so colorfully described it. Stampedes has always been a fun and rockin place to go!
@TJ & @Chip
First of all Chip.. I would side with you as someone who used to frequent the Coral on Sunday afternoons for the burger and weenie roast after finishing the day moving my husband’s mother’s lawn and before heading back to Dallas. Sure was a nice way to kick back and wrap things up.
As for TJ, he’s obviously a “Textbook Taught” idiot with a venemous tongue more interested in flinging mud rather than having any type of compassion. This is also a clear indication that human beings who behave like this should be avoided the parents who produced him should not be allowed to BREED hateful offspring such has him. I pitty the individual who claims to fall in love with him in a future relationship which will be doomed and loaded with his negative karmic return.
So rather than spread more hate, it’s better for us all to just smile and nod saying “How nice, How very very nice and Bless Their Heart!” instead as he grows old and winds up having a miserable existence of a so-called disrespectful glamourous life.
Hey Chip, I dated a guy from Fort Worth a while back ago. We went to the Stampede a few times, some other place down the street, and some dump on Lancaster. Sorry dude, but I gotta go with TJ, those bars were pretty depressing and dank. Maybe we just missed the rockin times at the Stampede. But after hanging out in Fort Worth a few times, I just found the gay scene there pretty scarce. That article in the Voice this week about Fort Worth was mostly PR crap IMO.
Geez, can we tone down the venom a bit fellas? I realize that Fort Worth’s bars aren’t for all tastes but I hope you can at least respect the fact the people who live here and patronize them have developed a bit of affection for them despite your opinion. Losing a bar in a town with only six is a loss felt by everyone, especially the folks who make it their own home away from home. The scene has changed drastically in Fort Worth of late and the piece in the Voice is far more than “PR crap”, it’s an attempt to bring a little light into a rather dark chapter of our history. I hope you can appreciate that in a time when so many look to tear us down for who we are, that we might at least agree not to do it to each other. Give Fort Worth another chance and you might be surprised.
I have to agree……..the best “gay” bar in Ft Worth is a Lesbian bar. Stampede is a dark smokiy old bar………but in the past I’ve had some good times there. They DO a lot for the community, so give them a break. At least in Ft Worth most of the guys dressed like Cowboys CAN saddle a horse and ride away……..not like those plastic things in Dullass
The Corral Club and then later as the Stampede was OK. Its not the upscale type building that a lot of large cities have with glitz and all, but it was a popular watering hole because the staff was friendly and cared about their customers and was the epitome of a community bar. It changed a but after the owner of the Corral Club died suddenly and the Ronda Mae or who ever it was that took over took it over. Gay bars are hard businesses to run, believe it or not, and I think the new operation was just a little strapped and a tad lacking in experience, but the manager and servers were still very friendly and cared very much about the patrons, fund raising, and the community there in Ft Worth.
Ft Worth is cow town, just a friendly place that is laid back and devoid of any pretentious demeanor. The Corral Club and later the Stampede were nearly perfect reflections of that. If you didn’t like it then you probably just have a problem with being in a west Texas style laid back city. Its not for everyone, but it is a solid kind of space, IMHO.
I am sorry to see the club go.