100 years ago in Washington: Firecracker explosion kills 11 Chinese residents in Walla Walla

Walla Walla was the scene of a shocking tragedy when 11 Chinese residents died in an explosion caused by firecrackers.

The victims — 10 men and one woman — had gathered in a building in Walla Walla’s Chinese neighborhood for a celebration. Witnesses said two men were standing on the second story veranda, setting off packages of firecrackers. Apparently, one of the men walked back into the building with a lighted package of explosives, which set off “an immense number of firecrackers in a few seconds.”

“In a flash the entire second story was ablaze,” said a correspondent.

There had been about 25 people in the building at the time. The 11 victims apparently were “instantly suffocated” by the heavy fumes, but the rest of the occupants fled without injury.

The fire itself “did very little damage to the building.”

Most of the victims were described as Walla Walla gardeners.

From the school beat: The former Brunot Hall, an exclusive private girls school at 2209 W. Pacific Ave. in Browne’s Addition, was sold by the Episcopal church for conversion to apartments.

The school had begun in 1893 as St. Mary’s Hall and was later renamed Brunot Hall after a benefactor. It had as many as 140 students, of whom 40 were boarding students, during its prime around the turn of the century. But it hit hard times around 1910 and closed in 1917.