On Jan. 29-30, 2021, an 11-alarm fire - accompanied by an explosion - ripped through the Atlantic Coast Fibers recycling plant on 7th Street in Passaic. The business employed 70 people. "Firefighters realized that we could not make any headway, and the fire was getting up and over us into the roof. We had to back out," Passaic Fire Chief Patrick Trentacost told CBS. The site covered five acres.