Walking through Glen Park look to the other bank near the falls. Dodge Mill Foundations can be seen. The stone foundations of Jonas Williams' east mill, more popularly known as the Dodge Mill, can barely be discerned. The mill was first powered directly by the falls and later by a dam and raceway, now the main channel of Ellicott Creek. After several changes in ownership, the east grist mill was purchased in 1864 by Henry Dodge, who converted from a stone-ground process to a roller process. A fire in 1894 destroyed this famous landmark and killed Mr. Dodge, who fought in vain to save his business.
The first Williamsville fire fighters to gain entry to the building said flames were raging inside the office area. But as fresh air met the fire, it flashed over and drove them out. Within 25 minutes of the initial alarm, Williamsville Chief Irvin Lorich started a call for mutual aid which would last for more than two hours. All told, help was provided by crews from Main- Transit, Snyder, Cleveland Hill, Getzville, Transit (now East Amherst), Eggertsville, Harris Hill, Swormville, Kenilworth, North Bailey, Clarence, Clarence Center and U-Crest.
"The fire skipped out of control, sending sheets of flame through and along the roof into the pleasantly-cool night sky," wrote Bob Beyer of the News.
The theater-restaurant had been built in the early 1940s by Harry Altman as the proud Glen Casino. After the war, Altman made it a showcase for big name entertainers such as Sammy Davis Jr. and the Mills Brothers. Some of the adjacent recreational buildings were also lost in the fire, but the children's amusement park was not touched. One fire fighter required hospital treatment for smoke inhalation and several others were treated at the scene.
The second Glen conflagration came on the early evening of Sept. 8, 1973 at the Inferno when the club building known as "The Barn" and several other structures were leveled in another mutual aid fire.
About 7 that Saturday evening, Chief Evor Williams found himself faced with flames sweeping through a complex of abandoned buildings. A refreshment stand, pavilion, penny arcade and wood frame stands were among the casualties.
"It was a scary place, a real 'hot spot' for us," Williams said. "We had 12 or 15 men inside and the situation was getting worse. We had to get them to safety but they didn't back out right away. Then the flames started to jump through the buildings. They dropped the hose and ran like hell."
Mike Wutz, Bill Grady and Williams were burned in the narrow escape. "The Barn" was history.
Also endangered in those frantic few minutes was Williamsville's Aerial Scope. It had been spotted on the Glen Avenue bridge in order to attack the fire from above.
"N0 one heard my message not to spot the Scope there," said Williams. "'The Barn' was a fire storm in itself. The side warning lights and the dome light melted. The men in the bucket were fried like fish in a pan."
In all, eight fire fighters were injured that night.
Williams ordered a second alarm, bringing Main-Transit and Snyder fire fighters to the scene in a replay of the 1968 fire. Getzville filled Williamsville's hall but was working the fire within seven minutes as part of the third alarm assignment. Transit and Cleveland Hill responded as standby companies. To guard against burning embers igniting rooftops on Mill Street, Clarence Center's tanker was pressed into duty. "We had enough men at the hall in case we had something in our own district, but we were all surprised we were going so far for a mutual aid," recalled Roy Davis of Clarence Center.
Harris Hill fire fighters were also called, first to fill Main-Transit's hall, then to draft from Ellicott Creek. Stephen Bucki, chief of Harris Hill, remembers seeing a glow on the western horizon after hearing the first reports of the fire. "I think a few of us went to the hall even before we were called because we figured we'd be going," said Bucki. "It was an old building, one of those places where you either put it out or let it burn down to the point where you could." Harris Hill drafted from the south side of Main Street near the Amherst Municipal Building, feeding a pumper connected to an aerial ladder.
"There may have been more apparatus at the Casino fire, but the Inferno was tougher to fight," Williams said.