One person remained missing for more than nine hours, the fire started to burn.

The Elizabeth Fire Department said around 10.30pm they expected the blaze to last through the night, but was currently under control.

Thick black smoke rose into the sky, spreading to nearby homes and Newark Airport as the planes were in the air.

Crews were still at the scene around 11 p.m. Tuesday.

As CBS2’s Dick Brennan reports, about nine hours into the firefighters continued to pour water on the flames that ripped through the commercial waste management building in Elizabeth.

Witnesses say the fireball appeared out of nowhere and suddenly engulfed the structure.

“It was crazy. It was like pops, lots of pops, there was a big trailer on fire,” witness Crystal Gonzalez said.

Firefighters told CBS2 that the flames and thick black smoke were so intense they often had to step back, even though they were wearing an oxygen mask.

People working across the street could smell smoke in their eyes and throats.

“Burning, burning. It’s like they put pepper spray in your eyes,” witness Victor Santos said.

The owners had the flames in their garden and the smoke in their living room.

Oge Okomkwo encountered the flames up close.

“I work from home so it was a bit terrifying because I was at my workstation and at first it felt like a strong wind, then my dog ​​is obviously anxious, so look out the window, and it It’s like flames and smoke,” she said.

A family decided it was best to pack up and leave after having to run for their lives.

“I was sleeping, then all the smoke came up, and we just started running out of the house, running like crazy,” witness Jorge Rodrigeuz said.

They will spend at least one night in a hotel.

” How is the house ? Brennan asked Carolyn Perez.

“It just smells like smoke,” she said.

The soot made its way through the air, landing on cars and people.

The blaze broke out a few miles from Newark Liberty International Airport, and it appears the planes were nearly touching the smoke, but the Port Authority said there was no delay and no didn’t have to reroute the flights.

“When you watch this, what goes through your mind when you watch this?” Brennan asked a witness.

“It’s crazy, man, that it’s so close. And you never know, it could have been worse,” he said.

Crews will not be able to enter the building for at least another day as it is partially collapsed.