Firefighters Battle Massive Blazes In Freezing Conditions

FDNY at 376 Vernon Avenue, Brooklyn

The Marcal paper factory, whose landmark sign greeted drivers on Route 80 in Elmwood Park, NJ, was destroyed by an eight-alarm fire that started at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

Smoke from the 45,000-square foot plant could be seen as far aways as the South Shore of Long Island, according to NJ.com, which noted, "The Elmwood Park neighborhood that forms a semi-circle around the 45,000 square plant found itself inundated with falling paper embers and choking smoke as firefighters ordered the evacuation of several homes. Traffic slowed to a crawl on Route 80, with one motorist reporting on Twitter that the temperature gauge in his car spiked by about 50 degrees as he passed the plant, an indication of the intensity of the paper-fueled fire."

The arctic blast caused firefighters' water to turn to ice during their efforts. The factory, which had rolls of paper inside, collapsed; the Elmwood Park police chief said, "The main ingredient there is the wind and that just feeds a flame and feeds a fire and causes it to spread rapidly."

None of the 200 employees were injured.

In Brooklyn, the FDNY has been working on getting a five-alarm fire in a Bedford-Stuyvesant warehouse, at 376 Vernon Avenue, under control. According to PIX 11, "Firefighters tried to attack the fire from the interior, which officials said was filled with 'a lot of stock and a delivery van of some type,' but they were later pulled from the building and began to fight the flames from the exterior, fire officials said."

No injuries have been reported yet.

At Newark Airport, at least a dozen cars caught fire in a parking garage. The parking lot is at Terminal C.

The Port Authority says no injuries have been reported yet.