WONDER DOG

Photo: Gong Club Inc. Facebook, Collection of Jimmy Carey

Ralph the Wonder Dog, mascot of Jersey City's Engine 6, posing in 1975

FAIRYLAND FIRE, PATERSON - 1955

Photo: patersonfirehistory.com

On Jan. 15, 1955, a fairyland display in a Paterson home went up in flames during a fund-raising party, claiming the life of its sponsor, Emma Ench.   

The 1,200 square-foot display featured 500 characters from nursery rhymes and story books, according to The Morning Call newspaper.

It was built to raise funds for the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund in memory of Ench's  mother, who died of cancer.

Hundreds of people had visited the display, called the "Land of Let's Believe," over the holidays.

The blaze was apparently sparked by a marshmallow that fell onto the display erected in the basement of the home.

Ench suffered burns trying to extinguish the flames with a pitcher of water.

Firefighter Reginald Ripley pulled her from the first floor "and almost dropped from the intense heat and smoke," the newspaper said.

Twenty-five men, women and children escaped up a stairway with six suffering injuries.

Box 347 was transmitted for 95 Totowa Ave. at 6:42 p.m. 

NEWARK - 1978

On May 26, 1978, three major fires struck Newark - including a pair of four alarmers. "The first leveled 16 wood frame tenements at Avon Avenue and Ridgewood (and) a scant six hours later, fire destroyed nine buildings at Mt. Prospect and 6th Avenue," the Newark Fire Department website said. "As the fire on Mt. Prospect Avenue was being fought a two-alarm blaze broke out in three buildings at High and Crane streets."

PATERSON PROJECTS - 1980

Photo: Collection of Bruno Wendt

Ladder up! Paterson firefighters knocked down an apartment blaze with a ladder pipe at the Christopher Columbus Projects in February 1980. The projects - nicknamed CCP - included four 16-story towers, which have since been demolished.

3 ALARMS, PATERSON - 1953

Photo: Paterson Retired Firefighters Facebook

On Sept. 3, 1953, fire crews contended with a three-alarm blaze at 80 Pennington Street, Paterson, N.J. Box 156 was transmitted at 8:05 p.m. Photograph from Vince Marchese collection.

469-471 BROADWAY - 1981

Photo: Collection of Bruno Wendt

On Feb. 15, 1981, a four-alarm fire struck a row of frame buildings at Broadway and Madison Avenue in Paterson, sending a man diving out a third-floor apartment window. The jumper, identified as James Lawson, was admitted to the intensive care unit at St. Joseph's Hospital, according to the Paterson News. Lawson said someone stole his wallet after he landed. Box 265 was transmitted for 469-471 Broadway at 6:40 a.m.

PARK AVENUE ARSON - 1981

Photo: Paterson Retired Firefighters Facebook

By Vinny Del Giudice
Paterson Fire Journal

On Oct. 15, 1981, a spurned suitor set a 4-alarm arson fire that raced through a four-story tenement at 87-89 Park Avenue in Paterson, killing eight people and injuring two dozen others.

"Families in an adjacent building were forced to flee when flames jumped across a small alley," The New York Times reported.

Box 11 was transmitted shortly before 3 a.m. and firefighters, back in quarters from an earlier third-alarm blaze, responded to a chaotic scene.

Gasoline was poured throughout the tenement, blocking exits.

Fire Engineering magazine said:

"First-arriving companies encountered a mass of flame over the entire facade of the building, engulfing both fire escapes and the central stairway. The tenants, most of whom were asleep at the time, were trapped on all four floors.

"Six people who had jumped from upper windows were lying on the ground outside. People were standing at numerous windows and were dropping children into the arms of fire fighters and civilians assisting at the scene.

"To complicate the situation, the fire jumped a 6-foot alley and spread to a fully occupied similar building of four stories.

"First-in companies set up master streams to knock down the flames over the outside fire escapes. This action enabled truck companies to ladder the front of the building and rescue at least a dozen persons."

Firefighter Elliot McGuire rescued members of a family trapped by the thick smoke and flames, according to United Press International.

"The guy was fantastic," Fire Chief Harold Kane said.

McGuire raced up and down a ladder, removing a 10-year-old boy, a woman and a man from a third-floor window. He then "groped in the dark" and found an unconscious 9-year-old boy in a rear bedroom, UPI reported.

Firefighters recovered the bodies of Edwin Perez, 34, his wife Irene, 38, and their children, Alejandro, 5, Carmen, 10, and Edwin Ramon, 11. Luis Alberto Perez, 23, a relative, was also found dead.

The other fatalities were identified as Gloria Hendley, 26, and Ramon Diaz, 56.

Twenty-four people were injured, including three firefighters.

Leonides Garcia, 37, was convicted of setting the blaze, Fire Engineering reported. Police said Garcia had been "making passes" at a tenant for several months and she wanted none of it, according to UPI. 

CHRISTIAN SANITORIUM - 1935

On Nov. 24, 1935, fire struck the Christian Sanitorium in Wyckoff. Two patients died in the blaze that destroyed one of the sanitorium's five buildings. Paterson, Hawthorne, Midland Park and Franklin Lakes provided mutual aid. Nurses saved many patients. The victims were identified as Barbara Sinke, 47, of Prospect Park, and Mary Duke, 77, of Bayonne, according to an Associated Press story in the St. Petersburg Times in Florida.

NORTH BERGEN - 1956

Apartment building and TV tower 

On Nov. 8, 1956,  a twin-engine aircraft flying in rain and fog clipped a giant television tower in North Bergen and crashed into an apartment building, spewing flaming fuel and scattering parts over several city blocks.

Four people died and 15 others - including a dozen firefighters - were injured, according to the Associated Press. 

The pilot and passenger of the plane flying from Indianapolis to New York City were among the fatalities as was a woman who  "jumped five stories to the street in panic as the building burst into flames," AP said.

"The impact of the crash shattered a part of the southwest wall of the multiple dwelling and the main portion of the plane was imbedded in the top floor," the magazine Fire Engineering reported. "Ruptured fuel tanks sprayed gasoline over the entire south wall starting a fire that involved that face of the building.

"In addition fire involved the entire top floor and the cockloft," the magazine said.

An aircraft engine hit a garage at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel School, where more than 200 children were in attendance, AP reported.  Witness Dorothy Mounet said landing gear "bounced like a basketball behind a moving car."

Fearing the steel latticed 810-foot television tower would collapse, officials evacuated hundreds of homes. Workers secured the tower, which residents - rightfully - considered a hazard. It was eventually removed.

Engine 1, Engine 4, Truck 1 and the emergency squad responded on the first alarm at Box 415 at 77th and Broadway. Upon arrival, Acting Deputy Chief Theodore Fletcher ordered a general alarm, including mutual aid from neighboring cities to fight the fire and fill in North Bergen's fire stations.

Fire Engineering said:

"The fire from the sprayed gasoline had ignited the wooden window casings of the building and the first fire fighting efforts were devoted to preventing the spread of the blaze from this fuel.

"Two deck pipes were used to wash the side of the apartment house and quickly stopped the fire on the exterior. It was later determined that the only places the fire had entered the building from this source was through windows broken by the intense heat. Spray from the deck pipe streams was sufficient to put out these interior fires.

"When the outside wall fire had been extinguished, all efforts were directed at the fire on the top floor and in the cockloft.

"Two 2 1/2 -inch hand lines had been stretched to the top floor by way of the fire escape and a third 2 1/2-inch line was taken to the top floor over an aerial ladder. The 2 1/2-inch hand lines, the two deck pipes and two ladder pipe streams were used to control the remaining fire."

Total Response

North Bergen: 4 engines, 1 ladder, 1 emergency squad
Guttenberg: 3 engines, 1 ladder, 1 ambulance
West New York:  2 engines, 1 ladder, 1 ambulance
Weehawken: 1 engine, 1 emergency truck, 1 ambulance
Ridgefield: 1 engine
Bogota: 1 Civil Defense rescue
Maywood: 1 Civil Defense rescue

BEN MARDEN'S - 1936

On Thanksgiving Day 1936, fire destroyed a North Jersey landmark - Ben Marden's Riviera in Fort Lee, the popular night club atop the Palisades.

Flames "spread so quickly that Fort Lee's four fire companies, reinforced by two from Englewood Cliffs, could do little" to save the wooden structure, the Associated Press reported.

Ammonia fumes from the refrigerating plant injured Fort Lee volunteer firefighter John Tierney.

The club was open earlier in the day - Nov. 26 - for its annual distribution of 500 Thanksgiving baskets to needy families.

HOLLAND TUNNEL - 1949

Photo: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Battalion Chief Gunther E. Beake

On Friday, May 13, 1949, a truck hauling 80 drums of a restricted chemical from Jersey City to Manhattan triggered a fire inside the Holland Tunnel that blistered the tiled interior of the Hudson River crossing.

The blaze started about 3,000 feet from the New Jersey portal.

"The fire was very difficult to extinguish due to thick smoke, heavy fumes and close quarters, requiring the assistance of both the New York and Jersey City fire departments," according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The tunnel's ventilation system helped save the day.

"Firemen entered the eastbound tube from the New Jersey entrance and worked their way through two lanes of parked vehicles formed by more than 100 automobiles, buses and trucks," the port authority said.

The Holland Tunnel disaster injured more than 60 people and led to the death three months later of a New York City firefighter, Battalion Chief Gunther E. Beake, who was overcome by smoke and chemical fumes.

UNION CITY - 1934

Photo: Passionist Historical Archives Collection, McHugh Special Collections, The University of Scranton, Scranton, PA

Fire raged at St. Michael’s Monastery Church in Union City on May 31, 1934, leaving charred ruins.

A dozen people were hurt. A worker's torch apparently sparked the blaze.

"The entire interior of the 65-year-old structure was destroyed," The New York Times said. "The great copper dome crashed into the nave from a height of 200 feet.

"When the flames were brought under control, only the walls of the church and the stone part of the two façade towers were standing," the Times said.

PATERSON POOCH'S PALS - 1967

patersonfirehistory.com

May 7, 1967 - Paterson Fire Department - Engine 3

GASOLINE ALLEY, BAYONNE

Image: Wikipedia

BLEVE at Constable Hook - July 1900

December 1960

In the 20th Century, the North Jersey waterfront at Bayonne was a gasoline alley prone to fires and explosions aboard ships, at piers and tank farms.

In 1872, John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil set up shop at the city's Constable Hook and expanded over the decades, adding to catastrophic risk.

After a 1911 blast, Fire and Water magazine, predecessor to Fire Engineering, noted "explosions at Constable Point are of frequent occurance, although every known precaution is taken to prevent such a disaster."

In other words, industrial progress comes at a cost. 

In one of the deadliest accidents, two tankers collided and burst into flames under the Bayonne Bridge along the Kill Van Kull waterway on June 16, 1966, ultimately claiming 33 lives from the ships as well as two tugs.

One of the vessels, the Alva Cape carrying 4.2 million gallons of the volatile petroleum product, suffered a breach. The New York City fire boat Alfred E. Smith moved in close and smothered gushing "lava-like naptha" with foam, averting a greater disaster, New York Mayor John Lindsey said.

Here's a sampling of other incidents:

On July 5, 1900, lightning struck the Standard Oil tanks at Constable Hook with flames roaring to "a height of 100 feet in immense bubbles that burst with a noise like that of wind-drive surf,'' the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester, New York, reported. Today, firefighters refer to such fiery bubbles as a BLEVE -  boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion. Workers dug trenches to contain spills threatening homes.

On Aug. 9, 1929, an explosion aboard the William Rockefeller moored at Standard Oil's Pier 6 took one life and spewed burning oil across Kill Van Kull toward Staten Island, according to the United Press. "Lines were placed aboard the William Rockefeller and it was towed into midstream, where fireboats poured water into it," UP reported.

On May 8, 1930, at Pier 1 of the Gulf Refining Co., a tanker backing into Kill Van Kull backfired after taking on 800 gallons of gasoline. Flames spread ashore, setting off a fiery chain reaction. "Drums of gasoline piled two high exploded and in some instances were hurled a hundred feet in the air," Fire Engineering said. Tugs and fire boats - including New York's John Purroy Mitchell, Zophar Mills and William J. Gaynor - joined land forces from the Bayonne Fire Department and plant brigades.

An estimated 316,000 pounds of foam powder was shipped to Bayonne to fight the 1930 inferno and replenish supplies.

In 1945, Fire Engineering reported fumes from a 100,000 oil tank at Standard Oil's Bayonne Terminal ignited, and the top of the tank caved in "scattering burning oil over a 100-foot area," injuring firefighters and plant workers. Bayonne firefighter James Farrell, 54, suffered third-degree burns to his neck and shoulders, the magazine said.

On Dec. 28, 1960, a liquid propane tank exploded at the Sun Gas Products Corp. at Constable Hook. Firefighters turned back flames that spread within 50 feet of a huge oil tank, according to the Associated Press. "Police evacuated everybody from within a five-block radius of the explosion scene and cordoned it off," AP reported.

GREEN VERSUS RED

Photo: usfirepolice.net

"It's not easy being green," Kermit the Frog once said.

Newark and other American cities fielded safety lime and safety yellow fire apparatus to improve visibility and cut down on traffic accidents.

Scientists had determined human eyes are "most sensitive to greenish-yellow colors under dim conditions, making lime shades easiest to see in low lighting," according to the American Psychological Association.

However, later scientific studies determined "recognizing the vehicle was more important than paint color" the APA said. "If people in a particular community don't associate the color lime with fire trucks, then yellow-green vehicles may not actually be as conspicuous."

The trend has since shifted back to red, just like Kermit the Frog's Sesame Street neighbor - Elmo.

WOODBRIDGE RAIL DISASTER - 1951

Photo: gendisasters.com

On Feb. 6, 1951, a commuter train derailed at a temporary wooden trestle in Woodbridge, New Jersey, killing 86 people in one of the deadliest rail accidents in U.S. history. 

An estimated 500 were injured.

And yes, that was a "wooden trestle" in "Woodbridge."

"Volunteer firemen of New Jersey spearheaded the rescue effort," Fire Engineering magazine reported in its April 1, 1951 edition.

"As the magnitude of the tragedy became known, police broadcasts brought more and more rescue companies and emergency squads rolling in with needed lighting, cutting, forcible entry and other equipment, and personnel trained in emergency first aid work," the magazine said.

The Associated Press reported:

"The 11-car Pennsylvania Railroad train, The Broker, swerved wildly and jumped the tracks as it sped onto the midtown overpass. The cars, jack-knifing crazily, hurtled down a 20-foot embankment.

"The new, temporary overpass had been put into service only a few hours before the crash."

 AP also reported:

"Ambulances hurried to the scene from all over North Jersey. Blood plasma was sent from New York and Jersey City.

"A morgue was set up in a garage. Blood-splattered rescue workers tenderly placed the dead in long rows, then pulled brown sheets of paper over their still forms. The feet of the dead sprawled limp, uncovered by the paper shrouds.

"Acetylene torches sputtered beneath the eerie rays of big spotlights, the torches biting first this way and then that around trapped passengers.

"Small ladders were laid against the slime of the embankment. And other big fire department ladders also were moved up to get at the coaches. The dead and injured, pulled free, were placed on the stretchers and handed down the ladders."

PERTH AMBOY ASPHALT PLANT - 1949

Photo: Fire Engineering

Perth Amboy volunteer firefighters Lawrence Dambach, 52, and Howard Adams, 35, died when an asphalt tank exploded at the California Refining Company on June 23, 1949. A plant worker also died.

Eight people - including two other firefighters - were injured.

The blaze burned unchecked for five hours.

"Black, greasy smoke rose hundreds of feet into the air" and "was visible as far away as Manhattan, 25 miles to the north," the Associated Press reported.

"The first explosion let go at 2 p.m., and fire spread rapidly to adjoining stills and storage tanks," the AP said. "Then a 10,000 gallon asphalt tank blew 50 feet into the air, spewing its blazing contents."

Citing Second Assistant Fire Chief Alex Pietraska of Perth Amboy, the magazine Fire Engineering reported:

"When firemen arrived at the plant it looked as though a bomb had dropped on it. Hair and eyebrows were singed as the men hooked up lines and advanced through slime and melted tar to reach what appeared to be the center of the fire.

"Adams and Dumbach were on a foam nozzle, about five feet ahead of Howard Adam's brother, Harry. The Chief was about, five or ten feet behind Harry and both were lighting up the line for the men at the pipe.

"The first two men got in between two tanks which were described as steaming, spitting and whistling and they trained their stream on the center of the fire. Suddenly there was a whine like the noise associated with the dropping of a bomb.

"Chief Pietraska yelled to the men to get back, as it looked as if a tank was going to blow. As the chief and men began to run, there came a terrific blast, which caught the two nearest men. Howard Adams and Dumbach were thrown into a three-foot deep pit filled with molten asphalt and burned to death."

Dambach was the father of four and Adams had a 6-year-old son, the AP said.

HUDSON RIVER TUBE - 1942

Photos: PM newspaper

On April 26, 1942, a Hudson River tube train derailed at the Exchange Place station in Jersey City, killing five people and injuring more than 200 others, the United Press said.  [Click on image for finer details]

HALFWAY HOUSE, PATERSON - 2019

Photo: Straight & Narrow website

Photo: Straight & Narrow website

On Aug. 24, 2019, a five-alarm fire destroyed Paterson's largest halfway house. 

The blaze at Straight and Narrow, 410 Straight St., displaced 200 people but there were no injuries despite the intensity of the flames.

The smoke plume was visible for miles.

A statement issued by Straight and Narrow said:

"A small isolated blaze quickly turned into a five-alarm fire, sending plumes of black smoke into the air.

"Thank you to our working Straight and Narrow employees, who, when the alarm sounded, acted diligently and professionally. Our service recipients evacuated quickly and calmly, and none of our employees or clients were hurt."

The statement also said:

"It is times like these that our community comes together and we have many people to thank. We would especially like to acknowledge: 

"Paterson's brave firefighters, police officers and all first responders for their quick action which prevented an even worse disaster.  Special thanks to Fire Chief Brian McDermott, Police Director Jerry Speziale, and Police Chief Troy Oswald.

"The additional fire departments who bravely assisted including Boonton, Parsipanny, Bloomfield, Pompton Lakes, Fairfield, Wanaque, Wyckoff and West Milford."

Six Alarms in June

Earlier in the summer, on June 25, a six-alarm fire destroyed a row of homes on Summer Street in Paterson, Channel 7 Eyewitness News reported. Firefighters suffered heat exhaustion. "It really is very stewy out here, and it's taken down our firefighters," Fire Chief Brian McDermott said.

FRANKLIN LAKES - 1950s

Photo: Franklin Lakes Fire Department
Franklin Lakes firefighters testing flame retardant gear in 1950s.

METZLER'S - 1960s

Photos: patersonfirehistory.com

Metzler Ambulance Service provided emergency aid and transport in the City of Paterson in the 1960s. The Paterson Fire Department assumed responsibility in 1970.

ANARCHIST BOMBINGS - 1919

Paterson and other major American cities were the target of anarchist bombings in the spring of 1919. The bombers were said to be followers of Luigi Galleani, who settled in Paterson from his native Italy. The anarchist movement was aimed at overthrowing the U.S. government and Paterson was a hive of activity.   

HAMILTON MILLWORK - 1936

Photo: Paterson Fire History  [From Morning Call courtesy Dennis Morrison]

Hamilton Millwork
Oregon Avenue and Gray Street, Paterson 
Dec. 10, 1936
3rd alarm @ Box  555

PATERSON CARPET MILL - 1930

Photos: Fire Engineering

On Sept. 9, 1930, fire gutted the Lamond & Robertson Carpet Mill at 26 Branch Street in Paterson.

The city's entire fire force responded to the general alarm at Box 623, aided by crews from Prospect Park, Fairlawn, Wortendyke, Hawthorne, Haledon, West Paterson and Little Falls.

Several people were injured, among them Paterson firefighter Henry Donaldson of Engine Company 2, who suffered a cut to his left hand, according to newspaper reports.

Fire Engineering magazine reported:

"The blaze started in the jute storage room, and with the rapidity of an explosion, spread to other sections of the L-shaped brick building. The first alarm was turned in at 11:25 a.m. the second and third shortly afterwards, and the general alarm was sent at 11:40. As a safety measure, children in a public school three blocks distant were not permitted to leave for their luncheon recess.

"The Associated Piece Dyeing Works, which adjoined the carpet mill, was also damaged. Two hundred employees in the two plants hastily rushed to the street. Several persons were injured when they jumped to safety from the second floor. Two firemen were injured when caught by flying debris. There was considerable confusion, when due to the large dense clouds that spread over the city, rumors started that many were trapped by the fire. A check-up by the police revealed that all employees were out of the building.

"In addition to the damage to the two factories, flames spread to a frame building and destroyed it. The total damage has been roughly estimated at $500,000."

NEW MILFORD - 1943

2 FIREMEN  KILLED IN CRASH

New Milford, N.J., Nov. 29 - A fire engine, speeding to a brush fire which later burned itself out and an Interstate bus collided in the center of this community yesterday, killing two volunteer firemen and injuring several other persons including two women bus passengers.

The crew of the fire truck was scattered over the pavement in the collision, while the bus carried through a store window and came to a halt halfway inside the shop.

Police Chief HARRY L. JORDAN identified the dead firemen as battalion chief WILLIAM BLISS, 46, who died of his injuries at Holy Name hospital, Teaneck and PHILIP KERR, 50, whose head was crushed under one of the vehicles.

Gettysburg Times, Nov. 29, 1943

CITY OF PASSAIC - 1951

Photos: Fire Engineering

Four major fires struck the City of Passaic in the spring of 1951.

On April 19, a general alarm blaze gutted the roof and top floor of the five-story Tudor Court Apartment House, damaging or destroying almost 100 apartments and about a dozen businesses.

On May 4, a flash fire killed a mother and three children in a downtown tenement.

On June 4, a general alarm fire destroyed the Arrow Electric Company, two textile mills and three shops. Twenty-seven businesses suffered smoke or water.

Then, on June 11, a general alarm fire destroyed the downtown Silver Rod Cut Rate Drug Store, Vogue Millinery Shops and Rogers Clothing Company.

At the Arrow Electric conflagration, flames devoured "large stocks of phonograph records and a 1,200 gallon oil tank in the basement," according to the July 1, 1951 edition of Fire Engineering.

"After this, the fire spread through vertical openings to involve the first and then the second floor, where it fed on a quantity of cloth and barrels of dyes and chemicals."

"Heavy machinery on the second floor caused it to collapse, as did the roof of the building."

The building didn't have automatic sprinklers.

At the height of the fire, more than 20 lines were playing on the flames.

"One wall of the Arrow building bulged out about a foot, and cracked badly enough to cause men and equipment to be moved," Fire Engineering said.

"The wind, though gentle, changed direction frequently from east to west and added to the firemen’s woes, as dense smoke rolled through the streets for blocks."

Arrow Electric response:

• First Alarm @ 3:13 p.m. via street box: Engine 1, Engine 3, Truck 1, Emergency Squad
• Second Alarm @ 3:16 p.m.: Engine 6

MARCAL PAPER - 2019

UPDATED AUG. 19, 2019

Photo: Elmwood Park Fire Department

Photo: New Jersey 101.5

Track of smoke on weather radar 

On Jan. 30, 2019, flames leveled the Marcal Paper Company mill in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, toppling its landmark neon sign. Winds and bitter cold hindered firefighting operations and showered brands on neighboring blocks. Fire departments from across North Jersey provided mutual aid. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy described the blaze as "an extraordinary calamity," adding "thank God no injuries."

_____


PRESS RELEASE - June 7, 2019

Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced the results of the investigation into the fire at the Marcal Paper Company, 1 Market Street, Elmwood Park, NJ, which occurred on Thursday January 31, 2019. The investigation was conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Robert Anzilotti, the Elmwood Park Police Department under the direction of Chief Michael Foligno, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, National Response Team.

The fire destroyed 31 of the 36 buildings located in the Marcal Paper Company Complex. The investigation was a large undertaking, which included experts in the origin and cause of fire, interviewing, and technical experts in varying aspects of building construction. The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office requested the assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, National Response Team, to assist with the investigation, specifically the cause and origin of the fire.

The location of the fire’s origin was determined to be in the northeastern most building on the southern side of the railroad tracks, known as building #41. The fire started in the storage area of section PM2, which stored large roles of paper used to make paper products for the company. Although the location of the origin of the fire was determined, the investigators were unable to determine the exact cause of the fire due to the extensive damage.

In addition to the scene investigation, investigators conducted over one hundred interviews of Marcal Paper employees, outside workers, neighbors and witnesses prior to the fire, as well as witnesses that observed different stages of the fire. The Marcal Paper Company fully cooperated with law enforcement in the investigation.

There is presently no indication that the fire was intentionally set. The cause of the fire cannot be determined at this time, and it will be classified as undetermined, pending further information.

_____


PUBLIC NOTICE - Feb. 1, 2019

Dear Elmwood Park Residents:

Please be advised that since shortly after the fire began, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection in conjunction with the Bergen County Health Department were notified and sent representatives to the fire scene to conduct monitoring and testing for hazardous materials.

Air quality monitoring was and is currently being conducted around the site and in the surrounding residential neighborhood.

At no time have there been any readings above any level of concern regarding air quality.

We recommend that residents keep their windows closed as potential flare ups may cause smoke to migrate off-site towards the residential area.

Updates will be provided if needed or if the situation changes.

Sincerely,
Michael Foligno
Chief of Police
Borough Administrator

_____


COMPANY STATEMENT - Feb. 4, 2019

On behalf of Marcal, our associates and management, we wanted to express our deepest appreciation for the outpouring of support we have received from the community. This has lifted and encouraged our spirits throughout this tragic event more than you will ever know. 

We also extend our most sincere thanks and admiration to all the hard-working firefighters and first responders—the men and women who have been working tirelessly at the site of our mill since Wednesday night—despite bitterly cold temperatures and life threatening conditions. 

Given the ongoing response work, we have not yet been able to access the site to truly understand the full magnitude of destruction—or what our future path forward might be for our company. 

While we remain hopeful, your continued support is dearly needed, now more than ever. If you would like to continue to show us your support, please use and ask for our Marcal Pro line of professional paper products in your restaurants, hotels, hospitals, schools and businesses. These products are still being produced by Marcal, in our remaining Northeast facility, and will be critical to the future survival and rebuilding of our iconic brand and company. 

Meanwhile, we’re hard at work fostering employee needs and getting our teams back to work as quickly as possible. With that in mind, we’ve made arrangements with a local recruiting company that is offering assistance with placement.