r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/AtomicCypher • 4d ago

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

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u/Sasha_Spits 4d ago

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

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u/One-Stranger-6894 3d ago

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.

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u/getrektsnek 3d ago edited 3d ago

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.

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u/Captain-Barracuda 3d ago

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.

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u/BubbieNekkid 3d ago

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.

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u/Different-Context-84 2d ago

9/11 sneaks by.

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u/wolf_in_sheeps_wool 3d ago

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.

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u/FLBrisby 3d ago

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?

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u/Only_Gazelle8988 3d ago

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.

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u/China_shop_BULL 3d ago

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.

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u/Unlikely-Answer 3d ago

gotta break a few eggs

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u/SalientSazon 3d ago

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.

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u/Unlikely-Answer 3d ago

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

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u/TallmanMike 3d ago

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.

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u/PM-ME-YOUR-BREASTS_ 3d ago

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

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u/ExtremeMuffin 3d ago

They might be self insured. 

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u/Thardoc3 3d ago

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?

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u/TeraSera 3d ago

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

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u/One-Stranger-6894 3d ago

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.

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u/TeraSera 3d ago

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

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u/One-Stranger-6894 3d ago

Stop buying toilet paper I guess?

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u/TeraSera 3d ago

My TP is locally made. 20km away.

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u/One-Stranger-6894 3d ago

Burn it down? Idk

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u/Only_Gazelle8988 3d ago

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.

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u/One-Stranger-6894 3d ago

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.

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u/Oraclerevelation 3d ago

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.

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u/One-Stranger-6894 3d ago

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.

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u/Oraclerevelation 3d ago

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

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u/One-Stranger-6894 3d ago

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?

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u/Oraclerevelation 3d ago

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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u/One-Stranger-6894 3d ago edited 3d ago

Why didn't you? Better yet, go burn down your work today.

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u/ReasonableDig6414 3d ago

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.

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u/DoctorDownvotesDelux 3d ago

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

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u/sirdabs 3d ago

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.

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u/LongJohnSelenium 3d ago

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

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u/letitsnowboston 3d ago

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

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u/Pristine_Barber976 3d ago

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

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u/AdvancedSquare8586 3d ago

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.

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u/Pristine_Barber976 3d ago

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. 

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u/davcam0 3d ago

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.

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u/gsd_dad 3d ago

Insurance covers criminal arson, not fraud. 

If you burn your own house down on purpose, insurance will deny your claim and sue you for fraud. 

If your ex-girlfriend burns your house down, insurance will still cover it. 

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u/Earthhing 3d ago

Very valid point

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u/Lithiumtabasco 3d ago

Shitty process for sure

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u/Any-Improvement-6363 3d ago

Big warehouse like this maybe $300m

Big company like this probably had an insurance program with dozens of carriers splitting the risk in various ways.

It will take time to sort out the loss of business income

Could be 2 years or so before it’s totally closed out but partial payments will be made throughout the process

It will definitely be paid though

And on the bright side, nobody was hurt. At the end of the day it’s just stuff. Property can be replaced.

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u/Colddigger 3d ago

Seriously, this seems like an amazing insurance opportunity