The disgruntled worker who allegedly filmed himself setting ablaze his employer’s massive Ontario warehouse while complaining about wages previously filed a lawsuit against his former company over break times and lost pay.
Chamel Abdulkarim, 29, of Highland could face life in prison over charges he intentionally lit the fire that engulfed the nearly 1.2-million-square foot Kimberly-Clark warehouse around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday.
A clip posted by an Instagram account bearing Abdulkarim’s name shows him lighting paper goods on fire in the warehouse while taking shots at his company.
“All you had to do was pay us enough to live,” he repeats in the video.
Before Abdulkarim allegedly torched the warehouse, he had complained about not being paid for lost break time while working as an hourly employee for an aviation services company, court documents show.
In 2024, he filed a class-action lawsuit against PrimeFlight, which provides “air carriers and airports with a wide range of aircraft, passenger and security services,” according to the company’s web site.
The suit filed in San Bernadino County alleged that PrimeFlight failed to provide mandatory lunch and rest breaks owed to its hourly employees under California labor laws.
Abdulkarim sought payment for the breaks he claimed he and other workers missed that were mandated by state law.
The case was dismissed in January of 2025, indicating that Abdulkarim won a settlement of some kind.
The amount Abdulkarim sought and the amount he settled for were not specified in the court documents. The type of work he did for PrimeFlight is unclear.
Abdulkarim’s lawyer in the case, David Myers, declined to comment.
PrimeFlight did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In the Instagram video Abdulkarim allegedly posted of himself lighting the Ontario warehouse fire, he makes several references to wages while the person sets paper goods on fire.
“All you had to do is pay us enough to live. All you had to do was pay us enough to f—ng live,” he says.
As pallets catch fire in the distance, the narrator says: “You may not pay us enough to f—ing live, but these bit—es dirt cheap,” as he holds up a lighter.
“There goes your inventory.”
Cops said they were aware of the video and investigating it.
Sources described Abdulkarim as an angry employee who vented about his job in posts he shared online.
He faces one count of aggravated arson and six counts of arson involving the willful and malicious burning of buildings or land, according to court records.
Abdulkarim was being held without bail at West Valley Detention Center and was scheduled to be arraigned at a Rancho Cucamonga courthouse.
Police captured him near the warehouse while the huge fire was still burning.
About 20 employees, including Abdulkarim, were inside the building when the fire broke out, according to sources who are working on the case.
He was initially missing but was quickly picked up by police, the sources said.
The warehouse caught fire with breathtaking ferocity because of the paper products inside that helped fuel the flames, firefighters said.
Kimberly-Clark is a hygiene company that owns brands including Huggies and Kleenex.
More than 140 firefighters battled the fire, which raged through the day on Tuesday.
The Ontario Fire Department led the fight against the six-alarm blaze, but the fire was so intense that neighboring agencies including the San Bernardino County Fire Department had to join in.
No injuries were reported in the incident.
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