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    Man accused of filming himself setting Ontario warehouse fire charged with arson
    • April 9, 2026

    A 29-year-old warehouse worker who police say filmed himself complaining about his pay as he set massive amounts of household paper products ablaze in an Ontario distribution center was charged with aggravated arson and six counts of arson of a structure on Thursday, April 9.

    Chamel A. Abdulkarim of Highland is scheduled to enter pleas to the charges on Friday in Superior Court in Rancho Cucamonga.

    Aggravated arson requires a jury to find that a defendant acted maliciously, with premeditation and intention to cause large-scale destruction. A conviction carries a minimum 10-year prison sentence. Convictions of arson of a structure can be punished with sentences of two, four or six years, according to state law.

    The six charges of arson of a structure each represent a single ignition, San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson told the Southern California News Group on Thursday.

    Court records did not list an attorney who could speak on Abdulkarim’s behalf.

    The fire was reported at about 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday in the 1.2 million-square-foot warehouse operated by NFI Industries and containing products from Kimberly-Clark, which manufactures wipes, paper towels, diapers and facial tissues, among other items. Firefighters tried to extinguish the blaze from the inside, but it quickly exploded into a conflagration that drew 175 firefighters from around Southern California.

    Abdulkarim was initially listed as missing, but when he was found, he was arrested.

    By that night, a video had surfaced that Ontario police say they believe Abdulkarim filmed.

    In the video, a man repeatedly says, “All you had to do was pay us enough to live.” The video shows several pallets of merchandise in flames and a hand using a lighter to ignite paper products. “There goes your inventory,” the man says.

    The warehouse — large enough to hold 50 Boeing 737 passenger jets — and its contents were destroyed.

    ​ Orange County Register 

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