Bonfire flames honor WNY history

FORT ERIE, ONTARIO - An important moment in western New York history is being remembered this weekend.

Re-enactors lit bonfires on Squaw Island and across the Niagara River in Fort Erie, Canada Saturday night.

The symbol commemorated the period during the War of 1812 when both sides of the border where in flames.

Event organizer Warren Glover said, "This bonfire symbolizes the burning of the villages of Black Rock and Buffalo on December 13, 1813, which the British set in retaliation for our American forces going over a week and a half earlier and burning Niagara on the Lake and Fort Erie."

"Flames across Niagara" also celebrates the nearly 200 years of peace between the U.S. and Canada.