Officials say the six-alarm blaze leveled a Kimberly-Clark distribution center and left investigators sorting through a total loss.
ONTARIO, CA — A warehouse employee was arrested on suspicion of arson after a fast-moving fire tore through a sprawling paper-products distribution center early Tuesday in Ontario, destroying the building, forcing firefighters into a defensive attack and sending thick smoke and ash over nearby neighborhoods.
Authorities said the fire consumed a Kimberly-Clark distribution facility operated with a third-party logistics partner, turning a major Inland Empire warehouse into a blackened shell in a matter of hours. The case quickly shifted from a large industrial fire response to a criminal investigation after officials said the blaze appeared suspicious and a worker first reported missing was later identified as the main suspect. No injuries were reported, but the building and much of what was inside it were declared a total loss.
Fire crews were called to the warehouse in the 9500 block of Merrill Avenue shortly after midnight Tuesday, with reports placing the first response around 12:30 a.m. to 1:45 a.m. depending on the agency update. First-arriving firefighters found heavy smoke pushing through the roof and active fire conditions inside the massive structure. Because the warehouse stored paper goods, including familiar household products, the fire spread quickly and burned with unusual intensity. Firefighters were soon forced to pull out and fight from outside as conditions worsened and part of the roof gave way. By dawn, the glow from the fire could still be seen across the area, with engines positioned around the complex and crews pouring large volumes of water onto the building. Ontario officials said about 20 employees made it out. One worker was initially unaccounted for. Later, authorities said that employee had been located and taken into custody. Ontario officials said the fire’s growth was so rapid that crews had little chance to mount an interior attack before shifting tactics.
Investigators later identified the suspect as 29-year-old Chamel Abdulkarim of Highland, according to local officials and broadcast reports. Authorities said he worked for NFI Industries, a third-party distribution company connected to the Kimberly-Clark facility. Officials said he was arrested on multiple felony arson-related charges and booked into the West Valley Detention Center, where he was being held without bail as of Tuesday. Fire officials said active sprinklers were not enough to stop the flames, a detail that helped push investigators toward the view that the blaze was not accidental. Ontario police and fire officials have not publicly laid out a detailed motive, and authorities had not, by Tuesday night, explained exactly where in the building the fire started or what ignition method investigators believe was used. That leaves several key questions unresolved even as the arrest moves the case into the criminal system. What officials have said more clearly is that the scale of the damage was catastrophic. The warehouse, estimated at roughly 1 million to 1.2 million square feet in various reports, was effectively destroyed, and several trucks at loading areas were also damaged or lost.
The setting helps explain why the fire drew such a large and urgent response. Ontario sits in the Inland Empire, one of the country’s busiest logistics corridors, where giant warehouse buildings line industrial streets near rail lines, freeways and residential neighborhoods. This facility handled paper products, and those contents gave the fire an enormous fuel load. Fire officials escalated the incident to six alarms and brought in support from multiple agencies. Some reports put the number of firefighters at around 175. As the fire burned through the night and into the morning, smoke drifted over nearby homes and ash fell across surrounding streets and yards. Officials warned that children, older adults and others sensitive to poor air quality should stay inside while crews worked the scene. Kimberly-Clark said in a statement that safety was its top priority and that there were no reported injuries. The company also said the Ontario site was operated by a third-party partner and that it was working with that partner and local authorities. The company had not, by Tuesday evening, publicly described how the loss of the warehouse might affect supply lines, though the building’s size suggests it played a significant role in regional distribution.
The legal case was moving quickly even as the fire scene remained active. Local reports said Abdulkarim was facing multiple felony arson counts, though authorities had not yet publicly released a full charging document detailing each allegation by Tuesday night. Investigators still have to process a dangerous and unstable burn site, a step that can take time after a major warehouse collapse because crews must first cool hotspots, secure damaged sections and preserve potential evidence. That means fire investigators and prosecutors will likely continue refining the timeline of the blaze over the next several days. Officials also said firefighters expected to remain at the scene overnight for mop-up work and monitoring. Further court action, including a first appearance or arraignment date, had not been widely published in the initial public updates. In the near term, the next steps are likely to include a formal prosecutorial filing, deeper cause-and-origin work inside the ruined warehouse and additional statements from the companies involved about operations, losses and employee status. Until then, some of the most important parts of the case remain provisional, including motive, method and whether investigators believe anyone else played a role.
By Tuesday morning, the destruction had become a landmark across the neighborhood. Television helicopter video showed a long, dark roofline torn open by flame, thick black smoke rising into the sky and streams of water arcing from ladder trucks toward the structure. Burned scraps of paper could be seen blowing into nearby residential areas, a reminder of both what had been stored inside and how forcefully the blaze moved through the site. The contrast was stark: a warehouse built to move everyday items such as tissues and diapers had become the center of a major fire and criminal investigation before sunrise. Ontario officials described the operation as both a firefight and an evidence scene, and those dual roles shaped the response. Fire crews had to keep the public away from smoke, ash and collapse hazards while detectives and fire investigators began piecing together how the blaze began. Kimberly-Clark’s brief public statement remained focused on worker safety and cooperation with authorities. Local residents watching the smoke from across the street were left with a more immediate image: one of the region’s giant warehouse boxes reduced to twisted steel, blackened debris and smoldering piles still giving off heat hours after the first call.
As of late Tuesday, no injuries had been reported, one employee was in custody on arson suspicion, and crews were still working the remains of the warehouse. The next milestone is expected to come when prosecutors formally outline the charges and investigators release more detail on how the fire started.
Author note: Last updated April 8, 2026.