Massive New Jersey chemical plant fire contained but building collapsed

PASSAIC, N.J.ersey – The billowing black smoke has disappeared from the sky over the 11-alarm chemical plant fire that burned in Passaic throughout the night.

“The fire is contained. But I can’t say it’s under control because of the pockets of fire,” Passaic Mayor Hector Lora told NorthJersey.com Saturday morning. “The goal now is to make sure it doesn’t reach the main plant.”

More than 200 firefighters battled the 11-alarm chemical fire, which started at 8:16 p.m. at Majestic Industries on Passaic Street and soon spread to the nearby Qualco chemical plant, said Passaic Fire Chief Patrick Trentacost.

It has now been downgraded to a four-alarm fire, but 25 companies remain on-site, said Trentacost.

“There’s fire in the basement underneath the roof,” he said. “It was a total collapse of a three-story building.”

The 300-foot by 400-foot building was vacant but being used to store plastics, pallets and some chlorine, Trentacost said. The overwhelming scent of smoke and chemicals was enough to make people's eyes water as far away as Wallington.

Firefighters – who had to deal with frigid overnight conditions that froze hoses and hydrants and made walking on frozen ice treacherous – kept the fire from reaching an area where more chemicals were stored, said Lora.

"This fire could have reached the main chemical plant and we could have been looking at a potential mass evacuation if not for Chief Trentacost and the mutual aid," said Lora.

The chief described it as “a tough” night with firefighters battling both the elements and the massive fire that spewed enough smoke to be detected by weather radar.

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“One firefighter was sent to the hospital with a laceration to the face," Trentacost said. "He was treated and released. We had about 14 to 16 firefighters slip and fall with bruises, twisted ankles, all minor.”

Another challenge was that the Passaic Fire Department has recently been mired in its worst COVID-19 outbreak in recent memory.

"It’s unprecedented," Trentacost told NorthJersey.com earlier this month. He lost nearly half of his 106 firefighters to COVID-19 and spent Christmas quarantined in his basement following his own diagnosis. "I never thought that in my time I would see something like this.”

The state Department of Environmental Protection will remain on-site to monitor air quality throughout the day.

“As of this morning residents are able to come out and go to work,” the mayor said. “We are not requiring individuals to stay in their homes. The air quality is under levels that would create concern.”

The Qualco site housed as much as 3 million pounds of potentially hazardous substances on an average day, according to state data.

Qualco Inc., which makes pool treatment supplies, had about a dozen chemicals at its large Passaic Street plant, ranging from industrial disinfectants to bleaching agents, according to a 2020 inventory list sent to state regulators.

The Passaic Fire Department had used the Qualco facility in the 1990s as a training ground for dealing with large-scale chemical fires and spills.

The fire will need to be completely extinguished before officials can look for its cause, Lora said.

During the height of the blaze, large embers were blowing from the site across the Passaic River south into Wallington.

"Last year around this same time we had one of the biggest fires in the city's history at the recycling plant," Lora said. "This time of year always poses challenges. I encourage people to use caution when using space heaters or plugging things into outlets using extension cords."

The blaze was reminiscent of the infamous 1985 Labor Day fire that tore through about 20% of Passaic's industrial base. The fire incinerated 21 century-old factories and 17 apartment buildings as well as homes in the Lower Dundee area of the city.

Despite the cold temperatures, January fires have ravaged North Jersey in recent years. A massive fire destroyed the Atlantic Coast Fibers recycling plant on Jan. 30 last year. In that case, firefighters braved the brutal cold overnight and into the next day to put out the fire, which engulfed an entire city block and veiled the city’s skyline with smoke. There were at least two explosions at the site.

And two years earlier, on Jan. 30, 2019, the landscape of nearby Elmwood Park was changed forever when a 10-alarm blaze leveled the historic Marcal Paper Mill. By the end of the night, 30 of the 36 structures on the site were either damaged or destroyed. The Marcal sign that colored the Elmwood Park portion of Route 80 a tint of red for decades was famously destroyed as well.

Staff writers Scott Fallon, Katie Sobko and Steve Janoski contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: New Jersey chemical plant fire contained, building collapsed