Christmas Eve fire in Seattle raises old ‘spirits’

Decade after Christmas mudslide, memories remain SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- A decade after a Christmas Day mudslide swept through a Southern California church retreat, worshippers have continued their mission at a new spot. Fourteen people were killed on Dec. 25, 2003, when a flood of water, boulders and debris tore through a campground in the foothills of San Bernardino. Members of the St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church and Foundation held summer and winter camps at the 45-acre site at Waterman Canyon for more than four decades. Now, the group holds summer camp in nearby Crestline and has abandoned winter sessions. Before the deadly mudslide, a swath of the hillside had been scarred by fall wildfires, leaving the area prone to erosion and flash flooding. A Pacific storm that Christmas dropped nearly 4 inches of rain on the region. "By the time it got to the camp, it was a moving wall of material that was going quite rapidly and really blasted through the camp," said John Peterson, an attorney who represented the camp in litigation. Since then, several lawsuits were filed against the camp, San Bernardino County and the California Department of Transportation. Survivors and victims' families sued the church after the tragedy, and the church settled the lawsuit in 2008 for $13 million. "It was pretty traumatic," Peter Koulous said of the Christmas flood. Koulous attended the camp when he was young, as did his five children. His grandchildren will continue the tradition at the camp's new location. The old campground was demolished five years ago after vandals started a fire in a building. The church still owns the property but doesn't have the money to rebuild. "We had a lot of dreams of trying to rebuild it," Koulous said. "I don't think the church is inclined to because we couldn't get insurance to rebuild."SEATTLE - A Christmas Eve fire in Seattle's international district has raised some old ghosts.

The building that erupted in flames Tuesday was the site of Washington state's deadliest mass killing - the 1983 Wah Mee massacre.

The large, out-of-control fire began at about 4 p.m. in the three- story building, forcing more than 20 people living nearby to evacuate, fire officials said. The top two floors have been vacant, but the bottom floor houses businesses whose staff and customers were evacuated.

Though the fire was unrelated to the 104-year-old structure's history, locals found the coincidence creepy, The Seattle Times reported in Wednesday's newspaper.

"That building's haunted," said Joaquin Uy, a social-services advocate who lives on Beacon Hill but spends a lot of time in the Chinatown International District.

In the early morning hours of Feb. 19, 1983, three men entered the illegal Wah Mee gambling club in the building's basement and hogtied, robbed and shot 14 patrons. Thirteen of them died. One survived and was able to identify the assailants.

The Washington Department of Corrections parole board decided at the end of October to parole one of the men convicted in the mass killing after 30 years in prison and turn him over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport him to Hong Kong.

The fire was declared under control at 10:23 p.m. Tuesday, though firefighters continued to battle it through the night and into the morning, <org>KING-TV reported.