'There goes your inventory,' Suspect Says as He Lights Fire in Ontario, CA, Warehouse
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif.
(TNS)
A man suspected of setting the massive Ontario warehouse fire on Tuesday filmed himself repeatedly saying, “All you had to do was pay us enough to live,” as he set paper products ablaze in the Kimberly-Clark distribution center, police said.
The video, posted to Instagram, appears to have been filmed by 29-year-old Chamel A. Abdulkarim of Highland, said Cpl. Emily Williams, a spokeswoman for the Ontario Police Department.
“However, due to this incident being an active criminal investigation, we can’t comment on the specifics of it or statements made by persons involved,” Williams said in an email Wednesday.
Abdulkarim was being held without bail at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. He was scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Thursday.
The fire in the 1.2 million-square-foot warehouse destroyed the contents and caused the roof to collapse, Ontario Fire Department Deputy Chief Mike Wedell said.
The video shows merchandise, wrapped in plastic and stacked on pallets, being consumed by flames.
“There goes your inventory,” a man’s voice says.
Later, as he holds what appears to be a lighter and a cigarette, he says, “You know, we may not get paid enough to … live, but these … are dirt cheap.”
Abdulkarim then appears to ignite a pallet of products.
A voice over an intercom can be heard saying, “We’ve got a fire in the warehouse.”
Police say a video on Instagram that appears to show the beginning of the massive warehouse fire at the Kimberly-Clark distribution center in Ontario, CA on Tuesday, April 7, 2026, is believed to have been taken by the arson suspect, an employee of a third-party company at the warehouse. (Screen grab via Instagram)
Abdulkarim is an employee of NFI Industries, which operated the warehouse where the Kimberly-Clark products were stored. Kimberly-Clark makes diapers, wipes, facial tissue, toilet paper and feminine hygiene items.
NFI spokeswoman Britny Francis on Wednesday declined to comment on Abdulkarim’s complaints, citing the criminal investigation.
NFI’s job website does not list salaries for open positions. Glassdoor.com, which features employee reviews of their companies and salaries, lists pay for forklift operators at $39,000-$49,000 annually and $58,000-$85,000 annually for truck drivers.
Abdulkarim appears to have been dissatisfied with a previous employer as well. A person by the same name joined others in a class-action lawsuit against PrimeFlight Aviation Services in 2024. The lawsuit alleges that the company failed to provide meal periods, rest periods, accurate wage statements and pay due at separation.
A phone number listed for PrimeFlight’s Corona office is disconnected. The lawsuit, filed in San Bernardino County, appears to have been dismissed.
In another lawsuit filed in San Bernardino County, Midland Credit Management alleged that Abdulkarim failed to pay a credit card debt of $2,976. The defendant in that case, like the suspect in the fire, lives in Highland, court records show.
Tuesday’s fire was reported around 12:30 a.m. near Merrill and Hellman avenues on the east end of Ontario. Firefighters arrived to find the building in flames. After initially trying to extinguish the fire from the inside, firefighters left the building as flames spread quickly, said Wedell, the Ontario deputy chief.
Some 175 firefighters and 35 fire engines from around Southern California fought the blaze. There were no reported injuries, Wedell said. Crews were still at the warehouse on Wednesday as the fire continued to smolder. The roads in the area have been reopened, Wedell said.
Ontario firefighters train to extinguish fires in warehouses, but the size of the building and the amount of paper products inside made that task challenging, he said.
“We were met with some extreme conditions, and it was an unfortunate loss,” Wedell said.
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