New video appears to show start of Ontario warehouse fire, may reveal motive
ABC7 Los Angeles • • nation
Key Points:
- A massive fire broke out early Tuesday morning at the Kimberly-Clark Distribution Center warehouse in Ontario, destroying the over one-million-square-foot facility containing paper products like Kleenex and Huggies diapers.
- Arson investigators are examining a social media video showing cases of toilet paper being set on fire inside the warehouse, accompanied by a person expressing frustration about low pay.
- Police have arrested 29-year-old Chamel Abdul-Karim, an employee working through a third-party company, on suspicion of felony arson, though it has not been confirmed if he is the individual in the video.
- Fire officials suspected arson almost immediately due to the rapid and unusual spread of the fire, which forced firefighters into defensive operations; no injuries were reported.
- A co-worker initially suspected robotic equipment caused the fire and only linked Abdul-Karim to the incident after the video surfaced, highlighting the suddenness of the event.
