EMLENTON, Venango County — The day after the historic Emlenton Mill was destroyed in a massive fire, telltale signs of the inferno were all over the tiny borough.

“It was covered in black ash everywhere,” said borough manager Nancy Marano.

The 140-year-old mill caught fire at about 10 p.m. on Feb. 5, 2015.

Paul and Nancy Newbury owned the mill for about 10 years. The building, which was one of the first steam-powered grist mills in the United States, contained an ice cream shop, a museum and a bunkhouse hostel. In 2014, the Newbury's added an antique shop.

Additionally, clothing store Amy's Closet — located next door to the mill — sustained heavy damage from fire, smoke and water. Four nearby homes also sustained minor to moderate damage in the fire.

Two-foot-by-2-foot wooden beams in the building provided hours of fuel for the fire. Flames stretched some 40 to 50 feet in the air.

Barry Louise, assistant chief of the Emlenton Volunteer Fire Department and the president of the borough council, said the cold weather was one of the big things he remembers. A thermometer at his house read 10 below zero that evening.

The Allegheny River was frozen, which left only a single fire hydrant as a water source. Additionally, some of the firefighting gear was freezing up due to the cold. Louise said this was the worst possible scenario for such a large fire.

With the river being frozen, the department had to call for as many tanker trucks as possible to bring water.

Hundreds of firefighters from at least 40 departments in four counties responded. Firefighters still were on the scene at 11 a.m. the next day.

Louise praised the cooperation of all of the firefighters, saying that their actions prevented more structures from catching fire.

“That saved all those homes,” Louise said.

He noted that the fire companies were acting selflessly, knowing that the cold weather would give their equipment problems.

Chris Hile, who owns several funeral homes in the area and has been involved in the fire department since 1988, said the department had planned for what to do if the mill ever caught fire.

“We've always been concerned about that for a long time,” Hile said.

He recalled hearing about the discovery of smoke at the mill on the police scanner.

“I think initially nobody wanted to hear it was a working fire,” Hile said.

When he went to respond, he parked about a block away from the fire. As he walked toward it, he was shocked by how bright the flames made the area.

“I could not believe how lit up the town was,” Hile said.

The remains of the mill stayed hot for a long time. A few days after the fire, the smoldering core of the structure still burned at about 800 degrees and firefighters had to douse it again to make sure it did not rekindle.

Smoke emanating from the ruins did not stop for more than three weeks.

Louise said a cause of the fire never was determined.

Bonnie Marzik lives right next to the mill and Amy's Closet. On the night of the fire, she noted the smell of smoke. She checked each room in her house and found nothing.

Then, her dog began “fussing,” so she took it outside. There, she saw a police car by the mill, and saw a lot of smoke coming from the building. Soon, flames were visible.

“There were firemen everywhere,” Marzik said.

She and her now late husband were evacuated from their house for 72 hours. The Red Cross gave them vouchers to stay at a hotel off Interstate 80 a few miles away.Her home suffered minor damage. The windows on the side of the house facing the fire had broken from heat and water. Her siding is made of asbestos, so it did not melt, but does have some discoloration.Marzik said members of her husband's family remember taking corn to get milled at the mill. Although the empty lot is nothing much to look at, she said it looks better than the charred beams that remained following the blaze.“I'd rather see it this way than the way it looked after the fire,” Marzik said.Amy Whitehill, borough council vice president, owned Amy's Closet and also lived in an apartment above the store. She was asleep when the fire started and was awakened by a firefighter and police officer knocking on her door.Because of the damage to her building, it had to be torn down. She said a very small amount of inventory was damaged.Immediately after the fire, she moved in with her father, and she still is staying there. Her father is 90 years old.“(Moving in with him) was probably going to happen anyway,” Whitehill said.She moved her store a few blocks away to the Crawford Center. She said she has more foot traffic than she did in her old location.In the beginning, the community and some of her customers stepped up to support her with monetary donations. Additionally, she said her insurance company acted quickly to help her move. Her building was torn down in May. She said she will not rebuild at the former site.“I never looked back,” Whitehill said.At the site of the mill today, only a pile of old equipment and a wooden sign remains. The structure was torn down during the summer.The Newbury's did not respond to calls for comment about the fire and the future of the property.Deb Lutz, vice president of economic development at the Oil Region Alliance, said the alliance had applied for funding to do a feasibility study on the property for future development. Funding was not granted, and Lutz said the alliance does not have the resources to do the study by itself.Without the funding, Lutz said the only thing the alliance can do with the property at this point is to put up a kiosk or something similar to denote that it was the site of the mill.Louise said he has not heard of any movement as to what will happen with the property. Marano said she cannot imagine the Newbury's rebuilding the mill as it was.Although there has not been much movement about what to do at the property, she said she expects more discussion to take place in the spring.Whitehill said one of her thoughts for the property was something akin to a community garden with farm stands and stands for other vendors.She said some residents have told her they miss the mill, particularly the ice cream shop. Other residents have said that the block looks empty without the mill.“A lot of people have a lot of memories there,” Whitehill said.Louise said he too has heard from residents who miss the building. He said the old equipment inside was cool.“Inside, it was interesting,” Louise said.Following the fire, Marano said a lot of people stepped up to offer help. The Oil Region Alliance called and asked to help, and a lot of local residents stepped up and asked what they could do.“It was a constant for weeks,” Marano said.Marano said the fire was traumatic for the area.“We've all been thinking, 'It's been a year,'” Marano said.