In the early hours of April 7th, a massive six-alarm fire broke out at a large paper products warehouse in Ontario, Southern California. Thick smoke billowed into the air as a huge fireball shot towards the night sky, fortunately with no reports of casualties. A warehouse employee has been arrested by the authorities on suspicion of arson. The specifics of the case are still under investigation.
Around 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday, multiple departments received reports of a fire at the Kimberly-Clark warehouse on South Hellman Ave in Ontario. The fire quickly engulfed the entire warehouse, as seen in footage released by the fire department and case updates, with flames shooting through the roof. As of 8 a.m., the fire was still burning fiercely.
Officials from the San Bernardino County Fire Department stated that fire departments from neighboring cities were involved in firefighting operations. Over 140 firefighters were deployed in the rescue efforts, but the entire building was engulfed in flames and the roof collapsed.
At the time of the incident, the warehouse’s automatic sprinkler system had been activated. However, due to the large quantities of household paper products stored in the warehouse, the “fuel” made the fire uncontrollable, escalating it to a six-alarm blaze.
Despite the fire consuming approximately 1.2 million square feet of the warehouse, all employees were safely evacuated with no reports of injuries. Investigators believe the fire was intentionally set. Mike Wedell, Deputy Chief of the Ontario Fire Department, later confirmed that a suspect related to the arson was apprehended by the authorities.
As of 10 a.m., the fire had not been completely extinguished, but the flames were successfully contained within the burning structure. Firefighters employed a “defensive mode” approach, focusing on controlling the fire and preventing its spread rather than entering the building for rescue operations.
Kimberly-Clark is a global manufacturer of paper products with well-known brands such as Huggies, Kleenex, and Scott in its portfolio. According to the real estate platform Zillow’s estimate, the value of the building that caught fire on Tuesday exceeds $156 million.
Due to the thick smoke and multiple streets still closed off in the vicinity, the Ontario Fire Department advised people to steer clear of the fire zone. Visible smoke, falling ashes, and severely impacted air quality around the area could pose risks, especially for children and the elderly who are advised to stay indoors as much as possible. The case is currently under further investigation.