New video appears to show start of Southern California warehouse fire, may reveal motive
ABC7 San Francisco • • nation
Key Points:
- A massive fire broke out early Tuesday morning at the Kimberly-Clark Distribution Center in Ontario, California, destroying the over one-million-square-foot warehouse filled with paper products like Kleenex and Huggies diapers.
- Arson investigators are reviewing a social media video that shows cases of toilet paper being set on fire inside the warehouse, accompanied by a person expressing frustration over low pay.
- Police have arrested 29-year-old Chamel Abdul-Karim, who was working at the facility through a third-party company, on suspicion of felony arson, though it has not been confirmed that he is the individual in the video.
- Fire officials suspected arson early 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 mechanical issues, stating there was no immediate suspicion of Abdul-Karim until the video surfaced showing the fire being set intentionally.
