The village of Indian Lake, NY, within Adirondack State Park and sharing its name with a nearby reservoir, currently has a population of under a thousand even though the school for the surrounding district is located there. This school building post-dates the one that was destroyed in a fire in 1921 along with a lot of the rest of the village. Dan Berggren tells the story of the fire in the following song. Here is a live video; you can also find one of him performing it with the children at the school.

FIRE OF '21
by Dan Berggren (1997)

T:Fire of '21
C:Dan Berggren
M:4/4
L:1/4
K:Amin
"Am"e | e<A c d | "G"d G z d | "Am"e>a a g |
w:Come li-sten to my sto-ry The truth to you I'll
"Em"b z2 e | "C"a>g e c | "D"d c A z | z3 B |
w:tell A-bout the fire of twen-ty-one When
"F"c A c d | "E"e z3 | e d c B | "Am"A ||
w:four-teen buil-dings fell Four-teen buil-dings fell

Come listen to my story
The truth to you I'll tell
About the fire of '21
When fourteen buildings fell,
Fourteen buildings fell.

On the sixteenth of November
Snow lay on the ground;
As children walked to school that day
It was peaceful in the town,
Peaceful in the town.

At Tripp's Garage 'round 8 o'clock,
That's where the fire began.
A cry went out above the roar:
"Fire! Come lend a hand,
Fire! Come lend a hand."

To save a house or barn some used
Wet blankets or wet sheets.
The fire burned so blistering hot,
Paint peeled across the street,
Paint peeled across the street.

Flames licked and kicked the dance hall down
And the hotel, every room.
Fire fighters slipped in mud,
Swinging shovels and brooms,
Swinging shovels and brooms.

Water squeezed from every pump,
Buckets passed from hand to hand
Amidst the smoke and soot and snow.
It was more than they had planned,
More than they and planned.

Five families now were homeless.
How many families more?
Then someone said: "To stop the fire,
Let's sacrifice the store,
Sacrifice the store."

So Nelson Ste. Marie agreed,
There was nothing left to lose.
Jack Burgey placed the dynamite,
Matt Johnson lit the fuse,
Matt Johnson lit the fuse.

The force of that explosion,
I tell to you the truth,
Sent the shears of Mattie Ste. Marie
Into Bill McCane's store roof,
Bill McCane's store roof.

The spirit of community
Is what kept the town alive.
Neighbors working side by side,
That's how Indian Lake survived,
Indian Lake survived.