Motel clerk credited for saving dozens of lives from massive Motel 6 explosion

BREMERTON, Wash. -- Police release new surveillance video of the huge gas explosion at a Bremerton motel that shows rooms turning into rubble in seconds.

The blast took off a huge section of the motel.

A gas company worker injured in the blast was still in critical condition on Wednesday. Two firefighter received minor injuries.

But investigators are focusing on what happened before the blast.

Bremerton police are looking for a woman involved in a domestic violence incident at the motel just minutes before the gas leak.

Sources say a woman jumped out of a window, hitting the gas meter and possibly causing the leak. But police don’t know if the incident is linked to the explosion but they do want to talk to the woman.

“All my stuff is completely blown up,” Warren Henry said.

Henry had no time to grab any of his belongings, only enough time to run for his life before Motel 6 exploded.

Henry was able to escape flying debris because of motel clerk Tonya Hinds reacted quickly.

“My good instinct says we have to evacuate,” Hinds said.

Hinds likely saved many lives.

“We pulled the alarms and we just got everyone out to the parking lot and I told them I want them to go to the upper lot and get distance from this building,” Hinds said.

It`s not clear what exactly sparked the explosion, but Henry believes he saw the gas worker who responded to the call get caught up in the blast.

“He was standing up on that wall and looking around and when the blast went, he went poof, he was gone,” Henry said.

The technician suffered severe burns.

One end of the motel crumbled, gutting 16 rooms. The explosion shook the ground for miles away.

"I am two miles from here and it moved the floor a little bit of a concussion,” John Griswold said.

Search crews with K-9s scanned the rubble for possible victims.

“They can separate odors like you and I can look at something and separate colors,” Bob Calkin said with Kitsap County Search Dogs.

After hours of sifting through the destruction, rescuers said they were confident everyone made it out alive -- thanks in large part to Hinds

“I don`t feel like a hero. I feel like I did what anyone would do, my guests are tremendous. I received hugs from all of them last night after everything they have been through,” Hinds said.

It took almost 24 hours for dozens of motel patrons to get back inside to retrieve their belongings.

The people who lost their items in the explosion have been relocated to other motels.

Cascade Natural Gas identified the injured gas worker as 59-year-old Larry Jennings.

The company says he has been with the company since 1982 and he and his wife reside in Bremerton.

“The family elected to release Larry’s name in hope of drawing on the power of prayer for his recovery,” VP of Operations for Cascade Natural Gas Eric Martuscelli.

Jennings is in intensive care at Harborview in critical condition with extensive injuries and burns.

His family set up a Go Fund Me account if anyone wishes to donate to help cover his medical bills: http://de.gofund.me/Bremertonexplosion