Authorities say a six-alarm blaze tore through a 1.2 million-square-foot paper goods distribution center, forcing firefighters into a defensive attack and leaving the building a total loss.
ONTARIO, Calif. — A warehouse employee was arrested on arson charges after a massive fire ripped through a paper goods distribution center in Ontario early Tuesday, collapsing the roof, sending smoke and ash over nearby neighborhoods and drawing about 175 firefighters from agencies across Southern California.
The blaze destroyed a 1.2 million-square-foot building used as a Kimberly-Clark distribution center and operated by NFI Industries, a third-party logistics company. Officials said about 20 workers were evacuated and no injuries were reported, but the fire moved so quickly that crews had to abandon an interior attack and fight from outside. The arrest shifted the incident from a major industrial fire to a criminal investigation that now includes witness interviews, surveillance review and scrutiny of social media video that appears to show the fire being set.
Fire crews were sent to the 9500 block of Merrill Avenue at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday after reports of smoke and flames at the warehouse. First-arriving units found heavy smoke pushing through the roof and fire conditions spreading across the building. Ontario Fire Department officials said the growth was so fast that firefighters were forced into a defensive posture almost immediately, using ladder trucks and high-volume hose lines instead of staying inside. By dawn, the glow of the fire could be seen for miles, and black smoke hung over the industrial area as ash drifted into nearby residential streets. Officials later said crews managed to keep the flames from spreading beyond the warehouse itself, but the structure was devastated. The roof collapsed as the fire intensified, and the emergency grew into a six-alarm response that kept crews on scene for hours after the main body of fire was knocked down.
Authorities identified the suspect as Chamel Abdulkarim, 29, of Highland. Police and fire officials said he worked for NFI Industries, not for Kimberly-Clark directly. Early in the response, one worker was briefly believed to be missing, but investigators later said that person was found and taken into custody. By Tuesday, Abdulkarim had been booked on multiple felony arson-related charges and was being held without bail at the West Valley Detention Center. Officials have not publicly laid out a detailed motive, but investigators said the fire appeared suspicious early on because of how quickly it moved through such a large building, even with sprinklers active. Ontario Fire Chief Mike Gerken said the behavior of the fire was unlike what crews normally see, a point that helped push the case toward an arson investigation almost from the start. Police said the inquiry is continuing and will include witness accounts, video evidence and a closer reconstruction of the fire’s origin inside the warehouse.
By Wednesday, the investigation widened after local outlets reported on social media video that appeared to show a man inside the warehouse lighting paper products on fire while complaining about wages. In the clips reviewed by several news organizations, the person filming can be heard blaming low pay and then focusing the camera on flames spreading through stacked inventory. Ontario police said they were aware of the reports and were reviewing the material as part of the case, but they did not publicly release a formal authentication of the videos in the early stages of the investigation. A co-worker, forklift driver Alejandro Montero, told local television reporters that he had worked near Abdulkarim shortly before the fire and later saw the circulating videos. Montero said the arrest left workers angry and stunned because the blaze did not just destroy inventory, it also put jobs at risk for people who had been on shift that night. His account added a human layer to a case that otherwise has been dominated by firefighting numbers, police statements and aerial footage of the destroyed building.
The warehouse stored paper-based consumer products, a detail that helps explain both the speed of the blaze and the scale of the smoke plume. Kimberly-Clark’s brands include Kleenex, Scott, Huggies, Cottonelle and Kotex, and officials said the building served as a distribution hub rather than a manufacturing site. That distinction mattered in the company’s first public response. Kimberly-Clark said the building was leased by the company but operated by NFI Industries, and it said no Kimberly-Clark employees were at the site when the fire broke out. The company also said it had activated a response team to reduce disruption and move shipments through other channels. For surrounding residents, the immediate concern was air quality. Fire officials urged more vulnerable people, including children and seniors, to stay indoors as smoke and bits of burned paper moved through the area. Roads around the warehouse were closed for hours, and the industrial block remained crowded with engines, ladder trucks and command vehicles as crews worked through hot spots and watched for flare-ups.
The firefighting effort itself was unusually large even for Southern California. More than a dozen departments assisted Ontario, and reports from the scene described 20 engine companies, 15 truck companies, 17 chief officers and arson investigators working the incident. Deputy Chief Mike Wedell said firefighters initially made progress but then had to pull back because the fire overran the building in a short time. Officials later said they had contained the flames to the warehouse by 7:46 a.m. and announced shortly after 1 p.m. that the main threat of spread had been eliminated. Even so, crews remained at the site well into the day and overnight to fully extinguish remaining hot spots. The size of the building made that work slow and methodical. The warehouse covered roughly 11 city blocks, according to local reports, and once the roof collapsed the operation shifted from aggressive suppression to long-duration control and investigation. In practical terms, that meant the scene had to function as both an emergency response zone and a crime scene.
The legal and procedural track is now as important as the fire response itself. Police said Abdulkarim faces multiple felony arson-related charges, though authorities had not publicly released a full charging document laying out each count in detail by Wednesday evening. Investigators are expected to keep reviewing surveillance footage, employee statements and any digital evidence tied to the reported videos. Ontario police have also asked for additional information from the public as they build the case. Kimberly-Clark said it expects to address the incident again in its next quarterly business update on April 28, while local authorities are likely to provide more detail when a fuller incident and arrest record is completed. Until then, several important questions remain open, including exactly where the fire began, how many ignition points investigators believe were involved, and whether prosecutors will add or refine charges after reviewing all available evidence.
By Wednesday night, the warehouse was gone, the suspect remained in custody without bail and the scene had shifted from firefighting to evidence gathering. The next major milestone is expected to be a more detailed release from police or prosecutors explaining the charges and the evidence they say ties the accused worker to the fire.
Author note: Last updated April 8, 2026.