The October explosion that injured three adults and two children in Northwest Baltimore originated in a rowhouse closet that contained a gas meter, officials said Tuesday.

But city officials stopped short of explicitly blaming a gas leak for the explosion that destroyed 4633 Lanier Ave. and ripped through six adjacent houses.

“We were not able to gather all the data off that gas meter” to conclusively determine whether the meter had malfunctioned, Baltimore Fire Chief Niles R. Ford said at a news conference. “I can give you the location, and I can tell you what was there.”

Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. is still investigating and examining the appliances and gas piping from the home, some of it heavily damaged, to determine the cause of the explosion, according to a statement from company spokeswoman Tasha Jamerson.

“While the Baltimore City Fire Department has indicated the origin of the explosion was in an area where the gas meter was located, the specific cause of the explosion has not been determined,” she said.

The injured people were a pregnant woman; two children, ages 3 and 4, and two men. All were in serious but stable condition after the explosion, officials said at the time. They have been treated and released from the hospital, Ford said Tuesday.

The fire department has not yet released its report into the incident in response to requests from The Baltimore Sun.

The blast happened just two months after a gas explosion killed two people and leveled several homes a few miles away on Labyrinth Road. That was caused by a gas leak after HVAC maintenance work was done in a home. It was ignited by a stove, officials said.

“We are incredibly thankful that lives were not claimed in this incident,” Ford said of the Lanier Avenue explosion.

More than four months later, the condemned houses have not been demolished. Fencing cordons off the boarded-up houses, and heaps of wreckage remain on the ground where debris fell from the blast or was left by rescue crews. The siding, some of it melted, hangs off the houses in several places.

It’s a constant reminder of that tragic October day, said Cherring A. Spence, president of the Parklane Neighborhood Association.

“We would just like those houses to come down and that area just really secured until they decide what they’re going to do with the property,” Spence said.

The mayor’s office did not respond to requests for comment about the homes.

According to state property records, the block of rowhouses was owned by Lanier Virginia Acquisition LLC, but the company said Tuesday night that it sold the homes in August. The identity of the new owners could not be immediately confirmed.

While no one was killed in the Oct. 11 explosion, Democratic Mayor Brandon Scott said, “the devastation is still fresh in our minds.”

“The devastation of the homes destroyed, the devastation of 11 families who were impacted, not knowing where to begin to pick up the pieces,” Scott said. “But also, I remember witnessing the community that banded together to support those who were impacted.”

Fire department investigators reviewed 911 calls and “had no calls on that day pertaining to gas,” Ford said.

In calls to 911, panicked neighbors described a powerful explosion, followed by a smaller one, on the night of Oct. 11. They likened the sound to that of a plane crash, and the sights to those of an action movie, as they described the ensuing blaze to dispatchers.

At the time, BGE said it hadn’t found any natural gas readings or leaks from service pipes leading to the destroyed homes. There hadn’t been any calls about a gas odor at the property before the blast, the company said.

Ford said BGE assisted with the investigation.

“They were unable to get information off at least three of the meters, and one of those meters was from the point of origin,” he said.

City Council Vice President Sharon Green Middleton, a Democrat, commended the people who helped in the aftermath of the blast.

“There are so many individuals in this community that stepped up just to help these families that were suffering,” she said.