Responders put out fire at Marcal Paper Plant in Elmwood Park

ELMWOOD PARK − History fortunately did not repeat itself Friday when a fire broke out at Marcal Paper as an afternoon blaze was extinguished with no injuries.

This factory was the site of a devastating fire back in 2019 that destroyed 30 of the 36 structures that stood on the property including the collapse of the main warehouse building.

Friday's fire started sometime between noon and 12:30 p.m. in the basement, police Chief Michael Foligno said. The cause of the fire in the cramped space was not yet known, Foligno said.

The fire reached four alarms but was under control by shortly after 3 p.m. Marcal workers were in the building when the fire first started, but luckily everyone was able to safely exit the building. No one was injured but some firefighters dealt with heat and dehydration issues, Foligno said.

Officials were still assessing the damage as of late Friday afternoon.

The 2019 fire that destroyed the original Marcal Paper Mill

Over five years have passed since a devastating blaze destroyed the original Marcal Paper Mill , taking down the iconic sign that sat atop the main building and demolishing almost all of the structures on the site.

In 2019, Chief Foligno described it as probably the worst fire that Elmwood Park has ever seen which was exacerbated by the frigid temperatures and gusty wind.

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The original Marcal Paper building, which stood in Elmwood Park since the 1940s, had a history of fires, but none as bad as this.

Since the fire, Crow Holdings, a Dallas-based company, purchased 12 acres of the property from Marcal. They completed the construction of a new warehouse earlier this year where the original paper factory used to stand.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Responders put out fire at Marcal Paper Plant in Elmwood Park