A warehouse employee was arrested on suspicion of arson after a massive fire tore through a distribution center in Ontario, California, early Tuesday and sent flames and smoke visible for miles. The fire started shortly after 12:30 a.m. near Hellman and Merrill avenues and was still drawing crews nearly twelve hours later, with firefighters shooting water at the building from ladder trucks.
The Ontario Fire Department said 175 firefighters and 20 engines responded to the six-alarm fire as it burned through the Kimberly-Clark Distribution Center, a 1.2 million-square-foot warehouse filled with paper products from brands including Kleenex and Huggies diapers. Officials said the blaze was contained to the warehouse and nearby businesses were protected, but several big rigs docked at the facility were destroyed.
Ontario Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike Wedell said the fire was identified as suspicious almost immediately because of how fast it spread and the possibility of more than one point of origin. He said crews entering the building quickly realized the fire had moved throughout the structure. Officials also said the warehouse’s fire suppression system was operating but was compromised when a portion of the roof collapsed.
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Ontario police identified the suspect as 29-year-old Chamel Abdulkarim of Highland and said he was arrested on multiple felony arson-related charges and is being held without bail. Authorities first believed Abdulkarim worked for Kimberly-Clark, but later clarified that he was employed by NFI Industries. Officials said it is not known whether he was actively on duty when the fire began, and a motive has not been determined.
About 20 employees were inside when the fire broke out, and one person was initially missing before being accounted for. No injuries were reported. A warning was issued for children, seniors and others sensitive to poor air quality to stay inside if possible as a thick plume of smoke continued to billow over the area.
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Investigators said tips from the community, possibly tied to social media posts, helped lead them to Abdulkarim. For the workers who kept the warehouse running around the clock, the fire did more than destroy a building. As one man identified only as Mark said, “It is going to affect us all the way around, no matter how we look at it,” and the loss now extends from the dock doors to the jobs that depended on them.
