Two businesses whose Northwest Portland storefronts were destroyed by a 2016 gas explosion have filed new lawsuits against the company that was digging in the area at the time.

Rik and Kim Bartel, the owners of Portland Bagelworks, are suing Loy Clark Pipeline for $2.6 million, alleging criminal negligence and trespass. They also believe that their 21-year-old daughter may have died as a result of stress and anxiety from the explosion.

Dosha SalonSpa has also sued Loy Clark Pipeline for $1.4 million. The spa is alleging trespass. Both businesses are requesting a jury trial.

Andrea Blessum, a spokeswoman for Loy Clark Pipeline, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the company could not comment on pending litigation.

On the morning of Oct. 19, 2016, employees of Loy Clark Pipeline dug into a sidewalk near Northwest 23rd Avenue and Glisan Street. Their excavator hit a natural gas pipeline, which caused a series of explosions in and around the building at 500 NW 23rd Avenue, injuring at least eight firefighters, police officers and residents in the upscale shopping district.

The Tualatin-based subcontractor took responsibility for causing the blast the day after it happened.

10 other businesses and individuals have also filed lawsuits against Loy Clark related to the explosion.

In a lawsuit filed Nov. 21, the Bartels detailed the time they spent developing the business and customer base, noting that celebrity chef Martha Stewart’s visit to the shop was a highlight.

The morning of the explosion, Portland Bagelworks employees noticed a strong smell of gas in the building, and said that a Loy Clark employee came into the shop and told them they had “nicked a gas line,” but left without explaining what happened or telling them to leave the shop. The suit alleges that Loy Clark did not call 911 immediately after hitting the pipeline, and that Rik Bartel was the first person to report the leak to Northwest Natural.

An Oregon Public Utility Commission report from 2017 determined that Loy Clark employees waited 19 minutes after contacting NW Natural to call emergency authorities about the line damage.

Damage from the explosion was staggering. The suit alleges the blast propelled the Portland Bagelworks oven into a building across the street, and all the money inside the company’s safe turned into ash.

In the suit, the Bartels allege that their daughter Mikayla Schemmel was especially shaken by the explosion and destruction of the business. She and her brother lived in an apartment close to the shop, and had heard and felt the explosion, the lawsuit says.

“Shortly after the explosion, Mikayla began complaining of headaches and feeling off,” the lawsuit says. “The Bartel family thought that Mikayla’s ailments were due to the stress of losing the family’s business and anxiety tied to being so close to the destruction.”

About a month after the explosion, Schemmel was taken to the emergency room after she became dizzy, lost vision and collapsed. Doctors said she had suffered a stroke and tried to stabilize her. She never recovered and died on Dec. 13, 2016. According to the suit, Schemmel, then 21, was healthy and had no history of strokes.

In a phone call with The Oregonian/OregonLive, Rik Bartel said the business is still running, but now operates out of a Tigard kitchen and no longer has retail space. They still provide wholesale bagels to several businesses.

“It’s not doing nearly as well as before,” Bartel said. He said they have spent the past three years getting the business running again without losing their wholesale customers.

He said he doesn’t know if they’ll ever try to reopen a storefront shop.

“It’s an awful lot of work,” he said. “I had just gotten to the point where I had someone else doing deliveries instead of me, where I didn’t have to work 15 to 18 hours a day. Going back to that is basically like starting over.”

Dosha SalonSpa filed its suit seeking damages from Loy Clark Pipeline on Dec. 5. According to the lawsuit, the salon’s flagship location was on the Northwest 23rd shopping strip. Dosha operates five other salons in the Portland area.

The suit alleges that the fire and explosion damaged Dosha’s furniture, equipment and machinery and says the business lost income because it could not continue to operate after the fire.

“Despite diligent efforts to mitigate its losses, Dosha has not reopened a salon/spa in the NW 23rd shopping area,” the suit said.

—Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.