Deputy Fire Chief William Brunt died on December 6, 1917, when the munitions ship Mont Blanc exploded in front of Pier 6 in Halifax Harbour. Deputy Fire Chief Brunt was responding with Fire Chief Edward P. Condon in the department's 1911 McLaughlin Roadster, from Brunswick Street, to the dockyard alarm (Box 83) at the corner of Roome Street and Campbell Road (now Barrington Street), as the Mont-Blanc was slowly drifting toward Pier 6.
When the ship exploded, Deputy Fire Chief Brunt was killed immediately.
Deputy Fire Chief Brunt lived on Creighton Street, at number 123. He was 41 years old and married when he died. He was a full-time deputy fire chief with the Halifax Fire Department. The cause of death was listed as: “Shock due to injuries from explosion”.