BREMERTON — Third-degree assault charges against a 32-year-old man are pending in connection with the Motel 6 explosion Aug. 18, 2015.

That day around 7:54 p.m., Cencom, the emergency dispatch services, received a call advising of a gas leak at the motel.

“The manager of the motel, Tonya Hinds, reported there was a broken main outside and gas was blowing everywhere,” wrote Officer Jordan Ejde in the report. “Another caller advised someone had busted it and was leaving in an old white GMC pickup truck.”

Ejde said that he arrived on the scene and did not see a pickup truck, but blocked off the roadway near 11th Street and Adele Avenue, then contacted the firefighters already on the scene. The firefighters informed him that there was a serious leak on the main gas line, and that the motel was being evacuated.

“I was approximately 50 feet away from the leak when I observed the easternmost end of Motel 6 ignite into a fiery explosion,” Ejde wrote. “I can’t remember if I was pushed or dived to the ground. I remember feeling small pieces of debris hitting me in the back as I went to the ground.

“I scrambled along the ground into a yard to get further away from the blast. I looked back and observed the easternmost section of the Motel had been destroyed in the explosion. Debris was scattered everywhere and smoke was billowing in the air.”

Ejde said he couldn’t see the gas company employee or the firefighters, and he didn’t remember a bang when the explosion occurred.

“In hindsight I realized I was dazed by the explosion,” Ejde wrote.

The Bremerton Police Department released a certificate of probable cause on Jan. 6 with the results of an investigation and a recommendation that the class C felony charges be placed. According to the report, the man was helping his daughter climb out a window of the Motel 6 and get over a fence while standing on the gas meter, which broke under his weight.

The man’s juvenile daughter is identified by the initial “F.” in the report.

According to Detective Crystal Gray, the man “wanted to talk about what occurred at Motel 6” after being read his Miranda Rights.

“(He) stated his 17-year-old daughter F. told him about one month ago that she was pregnant,” Gray wrote.

The reason they were at the motel was because after F. told her mother that she was pregnant after being raped in California, her mother “was extremely angry and argued with F. and slapped her and told her to get out of the house.”

The man said he’d been in prison at the time of the rape and “was not there for her,” so he “stated that this time, he was going to be there for her and help her through this.”

After being kicked out, F. went with her father to stay in the Motel 6 to “let her mom calm down.” However, according to the report, her mom kept calling to find her daughter, leading the man to help his daughter get out through a window.

“I advised (him) that we saw his daughter being helped by two subjects to get out the window on security video at Motel 6,” Gray wrote. “I asked (him) who owns a white Suburban. (He) stated he did.”

He said he parked the Suburban at the Shur-Kleen Carwash on the nearby corner of Wilbert and 11th.

“(He) stated he was the one who helped F. down from the window,” Gray continued. “(He) stated F. was hanging from the air conditioner and he got up onto a gray box, which was the gas meter. (He) stated he did not know what it was.”

According to the man, F. never stepped on or touched the gas meter, though he did hold her while helping her get down and then over the fence. He said his friend, the second subject seen helping F. through the window, merely caught F.’s bag and then went to the Suburban.

After they exited the motel, the man said he noticed nearby neighbors watching them.

“As they ran by, he heard a hissing-type noise kind of like a tire going flat,” Gray wrote. “He thought it was the neighbors going ‘Psst,’ but did not pay attention.”

Gray said the investigation showed that the man caused the pipe to break due to standing on the gas meter, which was placed in a location to prevent people from standing on it.

“(He) was aware that the pipe broke and took no steps to notify anyone,” Gray wrote. “Due to (his) negligence, this led to the gas company employee, firefighters and police officers to be in the ‘blast zone’ during the explosion, causing injuries.”

Larry Jennings, with the gas company, was one of the people injured in the explosion. Ejde wrote in his report that Jennings was trapped under the debris by the explosion and covered in severe burns.

According to Gray’s report, he was taken to the ICU Burn Center at Harborview Medical Center, and was “constantly treated throughout the night,” according to Detective Beau Ayers’ statement.

“He came close to death several times, but was able to pull through,” Ayers wrote. “Jennings is expected to recover, but has a long and difficult road with many hurdles yet to overcome prior to his recovery.”

— Editor’s note: The name of the man is being withheld until charges are filed.