Kimberly‑Clark warehouse arson
An employee allegedly set fire to a Kimberly‑Clark warehouse in Ontario, California, producing a six‑alarm inferno at a facility holding roughly 1–1.2 million square feet of paper products ( ). Police say the suspect filmed or livestreamed the act and was arrested on suspicion of arson; the company reported no injuries but warned the blaze could disrupt supplies serving millions of consumers ( ).
Before sunrise on April 7, a warehouse the size of about 20 football fields was burning in Ontario, California, and police say the person who set it was inside filming it. The fire tore through a Kimberly-Clark distribution center near South Hellman Avenue and Merrill Avenue and grew into a six-alarm response. (foxla.com) Ontario police later identified the suspect as 29-year-old Chamel Abdulkarim of Highland and said he was arrested on suspicion of felony arson. Officials first described him as a Kimberly-Clark employee, then clarified that he worked for NFI Industries, the third-party logistics company operating the site. (foxla.com) The video is part of why this case moved so fast. The Los Angeles Times reported that a Facebook account appearing to belong to Abdulkarim showed first-person footage of paper products being lit on fire inside the warehouse. (latimes.com) One clip reportedly included the line, “There goes your inventory,” while another complained about pay. The Daily Bulletin reported investigators believe the suspect recorded or livestreamed the fire as it started spreading through stacked paper goods. (dailybulletin.com) That detail matters because this was not a concrete warehouse full of metal parts. It was a roughly 1 million to 1.2 million square foot building packed with toilet paper, tissues, diapers, and other Kimberly-Clark paper products, which gave the fire an enormous fuel load once it got moving. (foxla.com; nationaltoday.com) Firefighters initially went inside, then had to pull back when conditions worsened and part of the roof collapsed. Reports from the scene said roughly 175 firefighters and about 20 engines were involved as crews switched to a defensive attack and tried to keep the blaze from spreading. (abc7.com; insurancejournal.com) The human toll could have been much worse. Fox 11 Los Angeles reported that about 20 employees were inside when the fire broke out, but all of them got out safely and no injuries were reported. (foxla.com) The business fallout is bigger than one building because Ontario sits in the Inland Empire warehouse belt east of Los Angeles, where companies stage goods before sending them across the West. Kimberly-Clark said the site served millions of consumers and that the company had already started rerouting shipments and finding extra warehouse space. (prnewswire.com) Kimberly-Clark also said no company employees were onsite because the building was operated by NFI Industries, and it said no manufacturing assets were damaged. That means the problem is not making Kleenex, Huggies, Depend, or Cottonelle; the problem is storing and moving them after they are made. (prnewswire.com; detroitnews.com) Police said Abdulkarim was booked on arson charges, and multiple reports said he was being held without bail as the case moved forward in San Bernardino County. The fire is now a criminal case, a supply-chain disruption, and the total loss of one of the larger paper-goods warehouses in Southern California. (cbsnews.com; wionews.com)
