Amazon has opened its first Disaster Relief hub in Canada, a wildfire relief facility located at an existing Amazon fulfillment center in Edmonton, Alberta. The hub is intended to support nonprofits responding to wildfires and will stock more than 180,000 emergency supplies once fully operational this fall. More than half of its inventory will be specialized for wildfire response, including sifters for finding belongings in ashes, heavy-duty gloves and boots, air purifiers, and masks.
The expansion comes as Canada’s wildfire season starts earlier, lasts longer, and becomes harder to contain, according to Amazon. One recent season burned about 40.8 million acres, nearly seven times the country’s historical average. Hundreds of wildfires are burning in Canada this summer, displacing residents and creating health risks as smoke moves across provinces and U.S. states.
More capacity in California
Canada’s facility is Amazon’s second hub dedicated to wildfire relief. The first opened in California’s San Bernardino Valley in 2024. After lessons from that response and forecasts for a strong El Niño season, Amazon quintupled the California hub’s capacity this year. Its additional inventory includes masks, air purifiers, diapers, toiletries, hygiene supplies, and other general relief items that can also support communities affected by floods, tornadoes, and earthquakes.
Wildfires don't wait—and neither do we,
said Abe Diaz, Amazon’s head of disaster relief. He said the expansion in California and Canada is intended to help put resources in the hands of first responders in hours rather than days. Amazon works with organizations including the American Red Cross, After the Fire, COPE Preparedness, the Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Foundation, Team Rubicon Canada, and the Canadian Red Cross to determine which supplies are most needed.
During the 2025 wildfires in Southern California, Amazon volunteers donated and delivered wildfire safety gear, water, shelf-stable food, and toiletries. Amazon said the California hub supported its response to the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, which included $10 million for relief, more than 500,000 supplies distributed to 29 organizations, and cloud technology and drone support for emergency responders. The hub also supported communities in western Alaska after a typhoon, as well as communities in Hawaii and Venezuela affected by floods and earthquakes.
Amazon now operates 12 Disaster Relief hubs across seven countries. Since 2017, it has donated and delivered more than 30 million relief items in response to more than 200 disasters worldwide. The company also provides rapid response technology systems and other technology support to nonprofits and first responders, including tools for assessing fire damage, monitoring hot spots, creating aerial maps, restoring cellphone access, powering medical devices, and delivering potable water.