Under the dark sky, the smoke and flames stretching over the cavernous space looked like the inside of a volcano. But the view from a drone in the predawn hours on Tuesday captured a mammoth warehouse fire about 40 miles east of Los Angeles.
The blaze in Ontario, Calif., a six-alarm fire, consumed the 1.2 million square foot warehouse of the paper company Kimberly-Clark. Twenty employees were inside the facility when the fire started at about 12:30 a.m., but no one was killed or injured, officials said.
Mike Wedell, deputy chief of the Ontario Fire Department, said that the fire was identified early as a potential arson and that a suspect, a warehouse employee, was arrested and charged with arson.
More than 140 firefighters from three counties responded, officials said. Initially, firefighters believed they were battling a small fire contained by a sprinkler system. But Chief Wedell said that within about 10 to 15 minutes, they evacuated because of the speed and scale of the flames.
The building, which was filled with combustible materials, was a total loss, according to Chief Wedell.
“This is an extremely rare event,” he said. “Career firefighters would consider this a career call.”
Kimberly-Clark confirmed in a statement that the building was operated by a third-party partner that the company did not identify, saying that it was working with local authorities in the investigation.
Chief Wedell noted that the building was a new development in Ontario with a good water supply and fire protection sprinklers.
The fire affected air quality in the surrounding areas of Riverside and San Bernardino, as debris and smoke created an apocalyptic scene.
Vivian Wang, a day care provider at Northpark Child Care near the warehouse, said on Tuesday afternoon that the streets and backyards across the neighborhood remained covered in a powdery residue.
“Ash is everywhere,” she said.
Jonathan Wolfe contributed reporting.
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