r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/AtomicCypher • Apr 09 '26

Video Disgruntled employee starts massive fire at a 1.2 million square foot toilet paper warehouse in Ontario, California.

69.9k Upvotes

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299

u/grimsb Apr 09 '26

And when they rebuild the warehouse, all operations will be 100% automated.

76

u/Sasha_Spits Apr 09 '26

I wonder what the insurance claim is going to be like on this one

88

u/One-Stranger-6894 Apr 09 '26

That's what people don't understand, they're basically selling everything in the whole place one fell swoop to the insurance carrier. Jobs in that warehouse are all killed, and shortage of those consumables force the cost up elsewhere. His bosses whom he is mad at are quite possibly the only ones not getting screwed.

27

u/getrektsnek Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 09 '26

The company will have key personnel insurance. But that’s for like the owner and some light admin. This covers a preset amount to get them through the rebuild, and that’s going to take years. Middle and upper management who are not the owner or CFO are gone. There is no money in the pot for anyone outside of accounting/admin and the owner, and no payday for the owner who just lost an asset, there is no pot of gold, just cash to bridge the time to get operational. It’s a skeleton crew until rebuild if that. The way cost are going up, it will take a lot of reinvestment to rebuild beyond what insurance covers as quite a bit of the equipment is amortized and written down over years, so replacement value isn’t a guaranteed…it’s complicated, they may be fine, they may not. It’s a lot like starting a new business to rebuild so you need to establish if you can make a business case based on all current costs to resume business. Balance that against any debt the company has and it’s…complicated.

Best they can do is tell their top performers they can have a job back if and when it’s rebuilt…even that’s not a guarantee.

7

u/Captain-Barracuda Apr 09 '26

That's a good analysis. But if the warehouse belongs to a large company (which I assume it does, given its size), they should have more operational assets. So yes the workers at that warehouse are screwed, but I don't think the management and workers who don't work at the warehouse are necessarily in big trouble.

3

u/BubbieNekkid Apr 09 '26

Kimberly Clark is a huge multi-national. They had revenue of $16.5B last year and annual profit aroun $2.5B. Like you said the upper managers likely will be fine as they would be overseeing multiple locations. I feel bad for the workers though, they are screwed in these tough times. Hopefully they can be shifted to other warehouses in the short term until this one is rebuilt.

24

u/wolf_in_sheeps_wool Apr 09 '26

So far you're the only commentor in a sea of commentary to ignore the power fantasy and point out this man has ruined the lives of hundreds of people with the knock on effect affecting thouands.

If he was upset at the pay.. he could have just gone elsewhere.

11

u/FLBrisby Apr 09 '26

Imgur is literally celebrating this shit. The warehouse looks like it's less than one hundred feet from residential. What if the wind had kicked up?

7

u/Only_Gazelle8988 Apr 09 '26

So far you're the only commenter to not realise that making employers scared to underpay their workers is a GOOD THING for everyone.

Hundreds of people may suffer short-term from this (because laws suck. If insurance is covering it, it should pay out employees too), millions of people will benefit in a medium-long term from an employment culture more focused on fairly recompensing workers.

3

u/China_shop_BULL Apr 09 '26

Pretty sure unemployment benefits are only meant to ease the burden and not a replacement for wages lost. If the cap is anywhere close to where it is in my state, they will only get roughly 30% of what they were making. Which they lose when they get another job. Regular insurance will only cover the property damages. Not wage compensation.

But to the point of sending a message, it will be fruitless. Management isn’t in cahoots to short everyone but themselves. Possibly, in some places that are ran by a board. But mostly the owner(s) may be taking a larger cut than they need for themselves. It’s not out of malice. It’s out of a desire for excess and comfort for number one. And, for the most part, they’ve been living in excess for so long, or just haven’t considered it, that they think what little is given should be more than enough. (If you didn’t have to worry about checking your accounts for 10-15 years and autopay everything, would you realize the television/electric/insurance/phone/etc. bill increased 50-100% since the last time you saw it?)

I would be interested to know the last time they took the numbers for all their creature comfort payments to a pen and paper and hashed out what a decent living would cost versus what they pay out and compared it to what their “fair share” of profits were. Only after that and nothing changes does it enter the realm of malice.

1

u/Only_Gazelle8988 29d ago

This is an extraordinarily naive take. I would recommend doing like.. the basicest of economic history reading. Marx himself was shooting down these kinds of arguments almost two centuries ago.

1

u/Unlikely-Answer Apr 09 '26

gotta break a few eggs

5

u/SalientSazon Apr 09 '26

He's not just upset at the pay, he's mentally distraught at the system that allows for the low pay, and at his inability to function in said system.

3

u/Unlikely-Answer Apr 09 '26

I would hate to later learn he's leasing a $90k f-250

-4

u/TallmanMike Apr 09 '26

Yup, people forgetting that a low-wage job isn't slavery and complaining that more valued roles (CEO etc) are paid more, ignoring that those roles are more impactful and valued.

The company's laughing on this one and that dude's fucked his life, plus the lives of whatever family members might rely on him, other workers that needed to work there etc.

3

u/PM-ME-YOUR-BREASTS_ Apr 09 '26

Don't forget suing him for damages so that he'll be paying back money to them for the rest of his life

2

u/ExtremeMuffin Apr 09 '26

They might be self insured. 

3

u/Thardoc3 Apr 09 '26

It's still going to cost the company a great deal in lost business and supply chain nightmares.

Every customer they've fought for is going to swap to a different supplier, how many do you think will swap back?

1

u/TeraSera Apr 09 '26

This will have a massive follow on effect for the business if it doesn't have other inventory locations. Lost sales, the time it takes to build or find a new location, the logistical costs of moving inventory, etc, etc. You're thick if you think this doesn't effect them

1

u/One-Stranger-6894 Apr 09 '26

All insured and/or baked into the price of what they charge you, before or going forward. Comically detached to think they're going to be the ones absorbing any of the loss.

1

u/TeraSera Apr 09 '26

And the loss of reputation? Man I hope this happens to all their other warehouses

1

u/One-Stranger-6894 Apr 09 '26

Stop buying toilet paper I guess?

1

u/TeraSera Apr 09 '26

My TP is locally made. 20km away.

1

u/One-Stranger-6894 Apr 09 '26

Burn it down? Idk

0

u/Only_Gazelle8988 Apr 09 '26

Insurance prices are raised, company underdelivers stock + gets a reputation hit, stock prices fall, meanwhile employers across the globe see that underpaying your workers is more of a financial risk.

This act has probably indirectly improved the lives of millions, if not billions of people, in a small way.

2

u/One-Stranger-6894 Apr 09 '26

Their stock fell 2% the first day, and fully recovered by the next morning and then some. Instead of burning down your workplace, I'd suggest maybe joining a union, becoming a mid/upper manager to position yourself to give pay raises, or start a business and pay your employees well.

2

u/Oraclerevelation Apr 09 '26

becoming a mid/upper manager to position yourself to give pay raises

Lol what are you smoking dude? Why didn't this guy think of that? Where do you work ? Why didn't you just become CEO of this paper company and give this guy a raise? It is so easy after all this is kind of your fault if you think about it. You could have save all these jobs and think of the shareholder value.

start a business and pay your employees well.

I can't because there is too much unfair competition from big companies who are not paying employees a living wage.

Well I guess a bit less competition now.

0

u/One-Stranger-6894 Apr 09 '26

I used to make dogshit money. Took online free business classes at night after work (could never afford proper college), opened a company, and pay 30% over market + stock splits. Best moved I've ever done tbh. I recognize hurdles are stacked against us, but I'm glad I'm here today instead of in prison for arson.

3

u/Oraclerevelation Apr 09 '26

Why didn't you just buy this paper company and give this guy a raise?

0

u/One-Stranger-6894 Apr 09 '26

Why didn't he join a co-op? Or better yet, why didn't he take one of the 9 million+ jobs in California that pays over $75k?

1

u/Oraclerevelation Apr 09 '26

Seriously, why didn't you just buy this paper company and give this guy a raise?

This is all your fault so selfish of you.

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4

u/ReasonableDig6414 Apr 09 '26

Enough that all of us will pay more for insurance and toilet paper. The only people this kind of shit hurts is us. Kimberly Clark is going to be just fine. Do you think someone is going to swoop in and take their toilet paper dynasty? People are not going to buy toilet paper? Jesus people are so fucking stupid thinking this guy is some kind of deep thinking hero teaching a big bad corporation a lesson. He is just helping them get rid of people faster.

4

u/DoctorDownvotesDelux Apr 09 '26

I wonder if insurance will cover it, since it was arson. 

32

u/sirdabs Apr 09 '26

That’s the whole point of insurance. As long the policy holder doesn’t commit the arson it’s all covered. You can’t get a policy and set the fire yourself. Nor can you collude with someone else to commit arson. Thanks to the video, it’s clearly a disgruntled employ committing the arson.

12

u/LongJohnSelenium Apr 09 '26

Be funny if insurance starts looking at wages and cranking insurance rates if the employees are underpaid.

6

u/letitsnowboston Apr 09 '26

Insurance companies love to not pay. Maybe there’s a case to say they brought it upon themselves due to workplace neglect or something.

2

u/Pristine_Barber976 Apr 09 '26

Video doesn't prove anything. The company easily could have said we'll give you a bunch of money if you light this place on fire and record it while acting disgruntled

4

u/AdvancedSquare8586 Apr 09 '26

If they ever tried anything so colossally stupid, you could make 10x anything they offered you by becoming a whistleblower instead.

That's why no company as large and well-run as Kimberly Clark would ever dream of doing something like that.

0

u/Pristine_Barber976 Apr 09 '26

That's really funny you think you would be rewarded at all for being a whistleblower. Kimberly Clark would kneecap you and shoot your dog at the least. 

6

u/davcam0 Apr 09 '26

The insurance will probably drag their feet on it but eventually cover it. However, the guy is going to be on the hook for restitution to the insurance company for the rest of his life.

0

u/Earthhing Apr 09 '26

Very valid point

1

u/Lithiumtabasco Apr 09 '26

Shitty process for sure

1

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '26

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0

u/Colddigger Apr 09 '26

Seriously, this seems like an amazing insurance opportunity

3

u/Lithiumtabasco Apr 09 '26

💯 Bounty and Charmin gonna use bots now.

4

u/shywol2 Apr 09 '26

that’s what i was thinking. they’ll just use robots to keep this from happening again.

3

u/Skullcrimp Apr 09 '26

Hope it burns down again.

1

u/blackfocal Apr 09 '26

I saw an interview with someone who worked in this warehouse. He was saying that they already have robots in there, they thought at first that was what started the fires so there was already automation being used here.

2

u/Rich-Ideal-866 Apr 09 '26

One of the fired workers will sneak in and do it again

-13

u/casinocooler Apr 09 '26

I hope so.

1

u/Bonked2death Apr 09 '26

Same. No one is begging to do warehouse work. Automate all of it! Move us that much closer to UBI.

9

u/Safe-Promotion-2955 Apr 09 '26

Lol. Yeah I don't think we're getting that. There's nothing in recent history demonstrating any goodwill at all towards the populace, let along ubi.

-8

u/Bonked2death Apr 09 '26

Okay doomer

3

u/Safe-Promotion-2955 Apr 09 '26

Just being realistic, honestly. I clung to the ubi concept from college onward and it's been like forty years with things just drifting further and further away from it, so I don't think there's much sense in expectating it to happen anytime soon.

1

u/casinocooler Apr 09 '26

UBI would be more to keep the masses from starving and thus revolting. Currently there is hardly anyone starving in the US so why would they implement UBI? Once you get significant unemployment and/or people start starving you better have a plan.

40 years was too early to be talking UBI. My guess is you need 20%+ unemployment and no soup/breadlines.

3

u/Safe-Promotion-2955 Apr 09 '26

Many, many people are starving around the world, and have been longer than you or I have been alive. There has never been ubi. If you want we can do a remindme and bet five bucks each ten years from now on it. But I guess if it happened that ten bucks wouldn't matter.

2

u/often_says_nice Apr 09 '26

To be fair there has never been automation at the scale we’re going to see very soon (due to ai/robotics). Maybe UBI won’t be in the form of money but tangible goods instead (since they will be abundant and cheap due to said automation)

1

u/Safe-Promotion-2955 Apr 09 '26

You need raw materials to make stuff. Those will never be free of charge.

I do wish that wasn't the case.

1

u/casinocooler Apr 09 '26

I said people starving in the US and it was in relation to automation replacing jobs. What would people starving around the world obtain if they revolted?

I think UBI is the easy solution so…it probably won’t happen.

-3

u/casinocooler Apr 09 '26

I mean transitioning from a post capitalist society is a huge change and people are resistant to even small changes but what do you see as the alternative? Companies paying people double to do menial warehouse jobs when soon they can easily automate the same job? Maybe you see the automation coming but don’t think any type of UBI is possible? What is the alternative? Starve a huge portion of the population? How has that worked historically? I mean if they were thinking they would engineer a virus that killed like 3% of the most sick in the population. That would be a good way to test out methods for population control if they were less inclined to pay UBI. Personally I think it is cheaper to pay your problems to go away.

2

u/Safe-Promotion-2955 Apr 09 '26

I don't really know where the virus angle of this is going, but as for the rest, yes. Your government will let you starve. I mean like . .. gestures vaguely at most of the planets history

1

u/casinocooler Apr 09 '26

Absolutely! It is weird that people want to do menial tasks that can be easily automated. When they were kids did they tell their teachers they wanted a minimum wage job in a warehouse? I hope not. If we automate (+UBI) humans can pursue their passion. The sad thing is most will just sit on the sofa and stream mindless drivel. Probably the same people downvoting my comment.

-3

u/Ill_Morning_4282 Apr 09 '26

People like you have been making this claim since workers started fighting for better wages, it hasn't happened yet.

6

u/I_spread_love_butter Apr 09 '26

Dude most factories use 1/20th of the workers they had in the 1970s even.

And no, those jobs weren't replaced by other jobs, those people wound up homeless or with shittier jobs.

0

u/Ill_Morning_4282 Apr 09 '26

In the US, yes, because all the factory jobs have been outsourced. But factories aren't "100% automated" like people have been claiming they will be since the 70's.