Huge blaze rips through SoCal warehouse, arson suspected

A massive blaze ripped through a California warehouse early on Tuesday morning, causing the warehouse roof to collapse and firefighters to flee — as an arson suspect has been brought into custody.

Several agencies responded to a warehouse operated by consumer goods company Kimberly-Clark around 12:30 a.m. near South Hellman Avenue and Merrill Avenue in Ontario, east of Los Angeles.

The massive fire engulfed the 1 million square foot building, sending a smoke plume into the sky.

Dangerous conditions forced firefighters to flee as part of an “operational retreat.”

“Unfortunately, the fire grew extremely quickly to where our crews needed to make what we call an ‘operational retreat’ to evacuate from the building,” Ontario Fire Department Deputy Chief Mike Wedell told KTLA.

The six-alarm fire was so large neighboring fire agencies including San Bernardino County Fire Department had to intervene.

More than 100 firefighters battled the fire with reports indicating it was still ongoing as of 5 a.m.

“The Ontario Fire Department is battling a 6 alarm warehouse fire. The building contains paper products. Units from many neighboring departments are on scene supporting the suppression efforts,” the San Bernardino County Fire Department wrote on X.

Paper products inside the building helped fuel the flames. Kimberly-Clark is a hygiene company that owns brands like Huggies and Kleenex. The company told the California Post that there have been reported injuries and the warehouse was operated by a third-party partner.

“We are aware of the fire at our distribution center in Ontario, California earlier today,” a Kimberly-Clark spokesperson told the California Post. “Safety is our top priority, and we can confirm there are no reported injuries. The facility is operated by a third-party partner, and we are working closely with them and local authorities. We will share additional information as it becomes available.”

No injuries have been reported and employees have been evacuated. It’s unclear how the fire was set, though investigators suspect the warehouse was set ablaze intentionally.

“At this point, we do have a subject of interest,” Ontario Fire Department Deputy Chief Mike Woodell told KTLA. “That individual has been brought into custody, arrested, and taken to the police department. The individual is awaiting questioning by Ontario Police Department detectives who are en route.”

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