Photo: San Bernardino County Fire
An arson suspect was arrested in connection with a massive fire ripped through Kimberly-Clark's California warehouse Tuesday (April 7) morning, the California Post reports.
A male employee of the warehouse was reportedly in Ontario police custody and the crime is still under investigation, officials confirmed. The incident took place at the warehouse in Ontario at around 12:30 a.m. local time.
Several agencies responded to the fire, which engulfed the 1 million square foot building and resulted in a smoke plume into the sky and the facility's roof collapsing, causing 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.
Neighboring fire agencies, including the San Bernardino County Fire Department, assisted in the response to the six-alarm fire with more than 100 firefighters battling the blaze reported to have continued as of 5:00 a.m. local time.
"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 its X account.
Kimberly-Clark is a hygiene company that owns brands such as Huggies and Kleenex and the paper products inside the facility are believed to have fueled the flames. The company issued a statement to the California Post confirming it was aware of the incident.
“We are aware of the fire at our distribution center in Ontario, California earlier today,” a spokesperson said. “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 were reported in connection with the incident.