ARKVILLE – Fires that transformed the business districts of Margaretville, Arkville and Fleischmanns, and laid waste barns, hotels and other structures in the countryside, will be the subject of a slide presentation by local historians Diane Galusha and John Duda Saturday, Aug. 5 at 3 p.m. in Arkville.

“Ablaze!,” sponsored by the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, will be held in the auditorium at the Catskill Watershed Corp., 669 County Route 38 (the Arkville crossroad or cut-off road). Admission is by donation. Attendees are also invited to view the permanent “Of Rivers and Reservoirs” exhibit at the Catskill Water Discovery Center adjacent to the auditorium, which will be open from noon to 3 p.m.

The program is offered in tribute to the hundreds of volunteer firefighters who have responded to alarms since local fire departments were formed in the late 19th century. Among the conflagrations they faced were the 1903 fire at the Ackerly Hotel on Main Street, Margaretville, where the rebuilt structure burned again in 1928; the 1939 and 1979 fires that leveled multiple buildings in Arkville, and the 1934 disaster that destroyed six buildings in Fleischmanns.

The talk will cover the burning of the huge Takanasee Hotel in Fleischmanns, the Sanford commercial and educational building in Arkville in 1986, and the 1979 Kelly Hotel fire in Margaretville which led to the creation of the MARK Project and the rejuvenation of Main Street.

Blazes that claimed barns and livestock and erased farmers’ livelihoods as well as rural character will also be featured.

FMI: 845-586-4973; history@catskill.net; mtownhistory.org.