A raging overnight fire tore through a massive warehouse, forcing firefighters into a prolonged battle as flames consumed the facility and authorities launched an arson investigation.
According to Fox News, the blaze erupted early Tuesday at a sprawling distribution center operated by Kimberly-Clark in Ontario, Southern California.
Dramatic footage from FOX 11 showed fire ripping through the roof as thick smoke poured into the sky.
Emergency crews were dispatched around 12:30 a.m., according to KTLA, arriving to find flames already spreading rapidly across the roughly 1.2 million-square-foot structure.
Officials with San Bernardino County Fire said the incident escalated into a six-alarm fire, drawing support from multiple nearby agencies. The Ontario Fire Department led the response, with police deploying drones to assist from above.
The warehouse stored paper goods, including tissues and other consumer products—materials that helped fuel the fast-moving fire.
By around 5 a.m., crews shifted tactics. Rather than continuing to fight the flames from inside, firefighters moved to a defensive strategy, surrounding the building with ladder trucks and attacking the fire externally as it continued to burn for hours.
Despite the intensity of the blaze, about 20 employees inside the building at the time managed to escape without injury, according to reports.
Ontario Fire Department Deputy Chief Mike Wedell said the building’s sprinkler system was working, but it wasn’t enough to contain the fire.
“The fire grew ‘exponentially very quickly,’” Wedell said, explaining why crews were forced to retreat from the interior and regroup outside.
Authorities now believe the fire may have been intentionally set.
Investigators have identified a person of interest, and one employee has been taken into custody.
“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.”
The investigation remains ongoing as officials work to determine the cause and circumstances surrounding the massive blaze.
