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A video allegedly taken by the twisted firebug who started the massive warehouse blaze in Ontario shows him lighting the blaze while apparently criticizing his employer.
Chamel Abdulkarim, 29, of Highland, has been arrested on two felony arson charges for torching the warehouse operated by consumer goods company Kimberly-Clark in San Bernardino County.
A video posted by an Instagram account bearing Abdulkarim’s name shows him lighting a goods on fire in the warehouse while taking aim at his company.
“All you had to do was pay us enough to live,” he repeats in the clip.
The video shows toilet paper packages catching fire and then bursting into flames.
Cops said they are aware of the video and investigating it.
A post shared by Ontario Ranch Life (@ontarioranchlife)
Sources with knowledge of the probe said investigators believe the video appears legitimate.
The horrifying clip shows the huge warehouse stacked high with pallets bearing packages of toilet paper and paper towels.
A voice on a walkie-talking can be heard saying, “we’ve got a fire in the warehouse” as the person shooting the video, believed to be Abdulkarim, slowly walks from pallet to pallet lighting fires.
“All you had to do is pay us enough to live,” he says. “All you had to do was pay us enough to f—ng live.”
As fires burn in the distance, the narrator says: “You may not pay us enough to f—ing live, but these b—es dirt cheap,” as he holds up a lighter.
“There goes your inventory,” he adds.
The video was reportedly reposted by a warehouse employee who received it from someone on site.
The original Instagram account bearing Abdulkarim’s name has been suspended.
Abdulkarim was captured not far from the warehouse Tuesday while the fire still raged.
He is being held without bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.
Abdulkarim is accused of intentionally setting the massive fire that engulfed the nearly-1.2 million square foot building near South Hellman Avenue and Merrill Avenue at around 12:30 a.m.
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Investigators said Abdulkarim is an angry employee of the warehouse who vented against his job in posts he made online.
About 20 employees were inside the warehouse when the fire broke out, including Abdulkarim, according to sources with knowledge of the probe.
Abdulkarim was initially missing but later found.
Cops are still assembling the details of his motive.
“This fire was very quickly identified as suspicious in nature,” said Ontario Fire Department Deputy Chief Mike Wedell. “There was a subject of interest identified very early on in the incident. That subject has been arrested.”
The six-alarm fire was so massive that neighboring fire agencies including San Bernardino County Fire Department had to help out. More than 140 firefighters battled the fire, which raged through the day.
The warehouse that burned is worth a whopping $156 million, according to Zillow.
The building caught fire with astonishing intensity thanks to the paper products inside that helped fuel the flames. Kimberly-Clark is a hygiene company that owns brands like Huggies and Kleene.
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