Wednesday, February 22, 2017

More than 100 firefighters battled a blaze at the iconic Marcal Paper Mills in Elmwood Park, NJ








ELMWOOD PARK, NEW JERSEY — Firefighters battled a blaze at the iconic Marcal Paper Mills in Elmwood Park on Monday evening, officials said.

The fire began at the warehouse on Market Street just after 4:30 p.m., officials said. It was under control just before 7 p.m.

Authorities said more than 100 firefighters from 20 towns helped battle the fire.

"You had to be way ahead of yourself in case this thing took off," Elmwood Park Mayor Robert Colletti said. "We were ready for it."

There were no reported injuries. It was unknown how the fire started.


Upon further investigation, it was found that paper dust had apparently caught fire and smoldered through the underside of the roof of the Marcal Paper Mills building in Elmwood Park.


Italian immigrant Nicholas Marcalus founded Marcal in North Jersey 80 years ago.

But his descendants filed for bankruptcy six years ago, listing debts of $156 million (versus $100 million in assets), and the company was seized by Highland Capital Management LP of Dallas.

Atlas’ companies do pulp and paper manufacturing, and are involved in various other businesses.