NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- The historic Marcal Paper plant is gone.
A massive fire has destroyed the plant in Elmwood Park, New Jersey. Icy winds whipped up the flames. Rolls and rolls of paper fueled the fire. Firefighters encrusted in ice had to endure the arctic cold and acrid smoke stretched for miles.
The fire burned so large and hot that drivers on Route 80 said that they could feel its heat inside their cars, WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported.
Firefighters were still hosing down what's left of the landmark the next morning.
The iconic red neon Marcal sign along the side of Route 80 was a vestige of North Jersey's industrial past for decades. A photographer for The Record captured its final moments as the sign titled like a sinking ship into a sea of flames with only the "M," "A" and "R" still seen above the inferno.
Marcal, a family business that made toilet paper and tissue products for four generations, pioneered the use of recycle paper products and has been a landmark institution since the 1930s, Adams reported.
It's unclear how the fire started.
No injuries were reported. Two-hundred people worked at the plant.