Cascade Natural Gas says 59-year-old Larry Jennings, a longtime employee since 1982, was responding to a call at the Motel 6 when the explosions took place. (Photo: KING) 
 
 BREMERTON, Wash. - As the cause of an explosion at a Bremerton Motel 6 remains under investigation, officials share more information about the gas worker injured in Tuesday's blast. 
 
 Cascade Natural Gas says 59-year-old Larry Jennings, a longtime employee since 1982, was responding to a call at the Motel 6 when the explosion took place. 
 
 Jennings suffered a broken neck and back and has severe burns. He remains in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit at Harborview Medical Center Wednesday evening. 
 
 After investigating the scene Wednesday, Bremerton's fire chief said no one was killed in the explosion that destroyed part of the motel. 
 
 Chief Al Duke says cadaver dogs found no bodies in the debris at the Motel 6. He says two people were unaccounted for, but when authorities pinged their cellphones, they showed up well south of the area of the explosion. 
 
 Police say they are investigating whether a person leaving the motel could have damaged a gas line before the explosion destroyed part of the building Tuesday night. 
 
 Bremerton Police Chief Steve Strachan says they received a report of someone going out of the building, possibly by jumping out a window, near the gas meter. Detectives are checking to see if someone hopped out the window and may have damaged the line. Law enforcement sources tell KING 5 that a couple staying in the motel were having a domestic dispute, and their teenage girl climbed down from the room and may have hit the gas line in the process. There are no signs the leak was intentional. 
 
 Explosion at Motel 6 in Bremerton. (Photo: Christine Clarridge / The Seattle Times) 
 
 Meanwhile, the National Transportation Board has called back its investigators because local officials say the gas meter was likely damaged just before the reported leak. As a result, the incident would not fall under NTSB's jurisdiction. 
 
 The Tuesday night blast critically injured the gas company worker minutes after the acting hotel manager evacuated the building because she could smell and hear a gas leak. 
 
 "My gut instinct was that I needed to evacuate," said Tonya Hinds, who was filling in for her manager and is a former volunteer firefighter. She knocked on doors and cleared the building. 
 
 The explosion happened 20 minutes later. 
 
 Duke says two firefighters were blown back 20 feet by the force of the explosion. One suffered bruised ribs and another a concussion. He says they are recovering at home. 
 
 The search was called off Wednesday afternoon for three people who were unaccounted for. Officials believe they had left the area. Managers say it's not uncommon that naval contractors book a room for a long-term stay and rarely use it. 
 
 "Some of them aren't even here. They just have the room rented and are out somewhere else," said Duke. 
 
 Duke became emotional talking about the gas company worker who was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center with critical burns. 
 
 "Our prayers go out to his family. It could have been worse," said Duke, fighting back tears. 
 
 Hines said the facility had about 75 guests in 42 occupied rooms, and the explosion destroyed about one-quarter of the building. 
 
 "My guests were tremendous. I received a hug from almost all of them last night after everything that they had been through. But I'm just happy to see their smiling faces and their children and just knowing that everyone's OK," said Hinds. 
 
 By noon Wednesday, firefighters were allowing some back into their rooms to collect their belongings. 
 
 The gas odor was so strong Tuesday night, staff inside the nearby Spiros pizza restaurant shut the windows to the kitchen. 
 
 Surveillance cameras inside the restaurant picked up the concussion of the blast. In the video, you can see mugs flying off the shelves and dust dropping from the ceiling. A panicked staff wondered what just happened. 
 
 "We could hardly see anything," said waitress Emily Crosthwaite. "It was just grey smoke. My initial reaction is 'It's gone, that whole building is gone that we look at every day. We take trash out every night, I open every morning and walk by this building and it was diminished.'" 
 
 KING 5's Elisa Hahn reports. 
 
 KING 5's Elisa Hahn, Alex Rozier and Liza Javier contributed to this report. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/bremerton/2015/08/19/federal-authorities-investigate-bremerton-motel-explosion/32008353/ ||||| The Bremerton Police Department said Wednesday the events leading up to the incident likely began with a juvenile female fleeing her home in Brownsville, six miles north of Bremerton, following a family argument. 
 
 Her stepfather called her cellphone and took her to the motel "to let everyone cool down and keep her away from her mother," police said in a statement. 
 
 The girl's mother also showed up at the motel and the stepfather, along with another man, tried to get his stepdaughter out of the building, according to police. 
 
 In trying to aid her escape, however, "the stepfather has admitted that he stepped on the gas meter to assist his stepdaughter out of the second-floor window," police said. 
 
 The stepdaughter also may have come into contact with the meter and pipes. The stepfather said they heard a "loud hissing sound" before immediately leaving and driving away, the statement said. 
 
 Police were called to reports of a domestic dispute at the motel and officers arrived just as the gas leak was being reported. The manager and others heard the hissing noise and guests were evacuated from the building. ||||| Please enable Javascript to watch this video 
 
 BREMERTON, Wash. -- Bremerton police said Wednesday that a father told officers that he and possibly his stepdaughter stepped on the gas meter at the Motel 6 and heard hissing before an explosion leveled part of the building later. 
 
 A Cascade Natural Gas Co. employee, Larry Jennings, was critically injured in the Aug. 18 gas explosion. He was still listed in serious condition Wednesday at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center. 
 
 All of the guests had been safely evacuated by hotel employees who had smelled a strong odor of natural gas. 
 
 Bremerton Police Chief Steven Strachan said that officers were first called to the motel to handle a family disturbance. Officers were just arriving when the gas leak was reported, and they helped evacuate guests. 
 
 "The report of the disturbance was in relation to a juvenile female who had fled her home in Brownsville (Wash.) following a family argument," Strachan said. "Her stepfather ... had located her and had taken her to the motel to let everyone cool down and to keep her away from her mother." 
 
 When the mother showed up at the motel, the stepfather decided to escape with his stepdaughter out of the motel's second-floor window. 
 
 "The stepfather has admitted that he stepped on the gas meter to assist his stepdaughter out of the second floor window," Strachan said. "The stepdaughter may also have contacted the meter and the pipes leading to it. The man has further admitted that after contacting the meter and pipes they heard a loud hissing sound." 
 
 They drove away before the explosion occurred about 30 minutes later. 
 
 Strachan said the meter, pipes and other items are still being investigated. 
 
 The names of the persons involved are not being released at this time, Strachan said. The file will be referred to the Kitsap County Prosecutor’s Office, and any decisions on possible criminal charges would be made by that office, he added. 
 
 The entire investigation may take weeks or months to be completed, he said. 
 
 Police also released surveillance videos of the explosion Tuesday night. 
 
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– When police officers first arrived at a Motel 6 in Bremerton, Wash., on Aug. 18, they had no idea that a gas explosion would level a quarter of the building within minutes. Instead, they were called to the building because of a domestic dispute—and now they say that dispute may have led to the building's destruction. Police tell NBC News that a man had taken his stepdaughter to the motel "to let everyone cool down and keep her away from her mother" after a family argument. But when the mom showed up at the Motel 6, he and the girl escaped out a window. "The stepfather has admitted that he stepped on the gas meter to assist his stepdaughter out of the second-floor window," police say. The man says he heard a "loud hissing sound" before the pair drove away, police add. As officers arrived to deal with the dispute, a motel manager told them about the gas leak. Authorities then helped evacuate the motel's 75 guests, per Q13 Fox. Thirty minutes later, an explosion rocked the building. No one was killed, though a gas employee suffered a broken back, neck, and severe burns, reports KING 5. Two firefighters were also injured, one with bruised ribs, the other with a concussion. Prosecutors are deciding whether to bring any charges against the family members. (The casualties could have been much worse if not for the fast-acting motel manager.)