A massive fire destroyed the 86 year old Marcal Paper factory in Elmwood Park last night. Anyone who has ever taken Route 80 through the area has seen the 45,000 square foot building and large "Marcal" sign in red letters.. Now it's all just a pile of smoking rubble. Bitter cold temperatures prevented hundreds firefighters from getting the fire under control so it was allowed to burn itself out. Fortunately, none of the homes in the neighborhood surrounding the factory caught fire and there were no injuries.
The plume of smoke could be seen as far away as Long Island. Marcal employed more than 200 people at the factory which made new paper products from recycled paper. As of 4:30 this morning drivers on Route 80 could still see flames coming from the building.
Nick Marcalus started making paper products in the factory back in 1932. The Marcalus Family sold the company to Soundview Paper Company in 2008.
Sources: NJ.com and You Tube