Apr 11, 2026
A warehouse worker has been arrested after a huge paper goods warehouse was destroyed by fire in Ontario, California.
The building was a distribution center for Kimberly-Clark, which makes (1) paper goods, diapers and personal products for brands like Huggies, Kleenex, Scott, Kotex and Cottonelle. The warehouse was operated by National Freight Inc. (NFI) Industries, a third-party logistics firm.
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A statement (2) from the Ontario Fire Department and the Ontario Police Department says the 1.2-million-square-foot facility was quickly engulfed and the six-alarm blaze required 175 firefighters. The warehouse reportedly serves (3) about 50 million people.
According to a report (4) from CBS, Cal Fire officials said that although sprinklers in the building were active, “the flames were located throughout the warehouse,” suggesting the fire was likely not an accident.
Warehouse employee arrested
No warehouse employees were injured in the blaze. But the statement from Ontario police and fire officials says one worker was initially unaccounted for and was later suspected of starting the fire. Police quickly located the individual.
“This fire was very quickly identified as suspicious in nature,” Deputy Chief Mike Wedell said, according to (5) ABC 7 News. “There was a subject of interest identified very early on in the incident. That subject has been arrested.”
Police say that Chamel Abdulkarim, a 29-year-old employee of NFI Industries, the third-party company that operates the warehouse, has been charged with multiple arson-related felonies and is being held without bail.
A video (6) circulating on social media appears to show large pallets of paper goods inside the warehouse beginning to burn. A person who seems to be holding the video recording device can be heard saying, “All you had to do was pay us enough to live. All you had to do was pay us enough to f—— live … There goes your inventory.”
CBS reported that Corporal Emily Williams said (4) at a news conference that police identified Abdulkarim after receiving several calls at the time of the fire that led them to determine the blaze was suspicious.
According to ABC 7, officials said that it was not yet known whether Abdulkarim was working when the blaze started, but he was present at the warehouse.
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Will there be a shortage of paper products?
According to Insurance Journal, the destruction of the warehouse and its inventory could lead to supply disruptions. The fire “risks West Coast supply shortages for more than 3% of sales” for Kimberly-Clark’s U.S. business and could also spike transportation costs, according to a note from Bloomberg Intelligence senior industry analyst Diana Gome.
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But Kimberly-Clark released (1) a statement a day after the blaze detailing its plans to make sure there isn’t a shortage of products. The company says it has “activated a response team to manage the situation and minimize customer and consumer impact.”
The company also said that none of its manufacturing assets were impacted, and that its supply chain network “is designed for continuity during disruptions and mitigating actions are already in motion.”
Additionally, Kimberly-Clark has identified alternative locations for incoming shipments and is working to address any short-term disruptions as those plans are carried out.
NFI Industries said in a statement to CBS that it is working to place employees impacted by the fire at other company operations in the area. Still, one warehouse employee expressed concern to ABC 7.
“It is going to affect us all the way around, no matter how we look at it.”
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
Kimberly-Clark Investor Relations (1); Ontario Fire Department via X (2); Insurance Journal (3); CBS News (4); ABC 7 News (5); Instagram (6)
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Rebecca Payne has more than a decade of experience editing and producing both local and national daily newspapers. She's worked on the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, Metro, Canada's National Observer, the Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press.
