The apartments were on the second floor and rear of 27 and 29 N. Main St. The street front was home to Angola Variety and His Way Assembly of God church.

It took hours to confirm that all the tenants were safe.

"We haven't been able to get in there," Angola Fire Chief Keith Young said. "The building is in too bad a shape."

Finally, the one tenant who had been unaccounted for was located. "He wasn't around at the time of the fire. Thank God he wasn't in the building," Mayor James Carlson said.

Demolition equipment was on site Friday night, and the building will come down as soon as a fire investigator from the Erie County Sheriff's Department finishes his work.

"We have round-the-clock police protection to keep the kids away," the mayor said, and that section of North Main Street will remain closed.

Furthermore, service has been restored to most of the 1,000 Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. customers who lost power during the fire.

The blaze was reported at about 3:05 p.m. Police Chief Patrick Puckhaber said an officer who responded to the report learned there was a woman still on the second floor.

"She was trapped because of the smoke," he said. The officer and a sheriff's deputy also were driven back by the smoke while attempting to use the stairs to the second floor.

They and an employee of Adelphia rescued the woman by putting a ladder up to a window. The woman did not require medical attention, Puckhaber said.

The mayor said he arrived on the scene at 3:15 p.m., and within another 15 minutes, the whole building was engulfed in flames. "It keeps on rekindling," Carlson had noted early in the firefighting effort.

Of particular concern was the building's proximity to 23 N. Main St. Though they appear connected from the street side, the buildings are separated by an alley approximately 6 feet wide.

"This is our nightmare come true," Carlson said.

That neighboring building has a vacant store front and apartments. Carlson said that building will be inspected for damage; tenants of the apartments were kept out Friday because of the threat of collapse from the burned-out structure.

The Red Cross was assisting all the tenants affected by the fire, he said.

Michael Walters, commissioner of emergency services for Erie County, estimated that more than 100 firefighters from Angola and several nearby communities responded.

"It's a hot fire," Walters said. "These guys and gals are working in their turnout gear. You have got to rotate them."

The mayor expressed his gratitude for their efforts. "Thank God for everybody that responded," he said.