Amazon’s ‘disaster relief hub’ opens in Inland Empire

Hopefully, these Amazon items never become must-haves.

But just in case, they’re ready to ship from Amazon’s first disaster relief hub focused on wildfires.

The online retailing giant on Thursday, Aug. 22, unveiled the hub — Amazon’s 14th disaster relief hub worldwide and its second in the U.S. — that runs from a warehouse known as a fulfillment center in the Riverside County city of Beaumont.

Stacked among the towering aisles of consumer goods are plastic-wrapped, forklift-movable pallets with gloves, shovels, masks and other supplies — more than 6,000 items in all — that can help those in wildfire-stricken areas.

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General Manager Nish Mohan stands in the Amazon fulfillment center and disaster relief hub in Beaumont on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. The facility specializes in wildfire relief and can deliver supplies to stricken areas in 72 hours or less. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

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Using Amazon’s sophisticated logistics network, the hub aims to send supplies anywhere in the country within 72 hours — all on the global retailer’s dime.

According to Amazon, the company since 2017 has donated more than 24 million items worldwide to people affected by more than 160 disasters.

Amazon wants to provide disaster relief “with as much attention to detail, thoroughness and commitment as we do with any Amazon product launch,” said Vidya Sampath, senior product manager with Amazon Disaster Relief.

“This perspective leads us to see those affected by disasters not merely as people who are impacted, but as our valued community who deserves the best of our efforts and our resources.”

The hub operates out of an 860,000-square-foot fulfillment center just off the 10 Freeway, about 25 miles from Amazon’s air hub at San Bernardino International Airport and roughly 40 miles from Ontario International Airport.

Fulfillment centers send packages to Amazon’s “middle mile” network that includes facilities like the San Bernardino air hub. From there, they make their way along what Amazon calls the “last mile” to customers’ doorsteps.

The hub uses this same network, only instead of fulfilling customer orders, relief supplies go where they’re needed. Nish Mohan, general manager of Amazon’s Beaumont fulfillment center, said the facility can handle normal business and disaster relief at the same time.

Sampath said Amazon coordinates with agencies such as the American Red Cross to make sure the right supplies arrive as quickly as possible and in a way that doesn’t hamper relief efforts. The company routinely seeks feedback from relief agencies to improve its disaster outreach.

Amazon chose Beaumont to house the disaster hub in part because of its proximity to the company’s air and ground transportation network, Sampath said.

Amazon also wanted a location that was close — but not too close — to wildfire-prone areas, Sampath added. It’s the same reason Amazon’s other U.S.-based disaster hub is in Atlanta and not hurricane-prone Florida.

California wildfires are expected to happen more frequently and with greater intensity throughout the year as climate change spurs droughts and high winds combine with hot temperatures to make bone dry vegetation ripe for igniting.

Five of California’s most destructive wildfires on record have happened since 2018, with three of the deadliest occurring since 2017, according to Cal Fire.

Knowing what supplies are available at the hub is useful in a disaster, said Yevette Baysinger, the Red Cross executive director serving San Bernardino County.

“To be able to have the partnership to have access and to know that, within 72 hours, they can actually dispatch the items needed saves so much time,” said Baysinger, who visited the hub Thursday. “To be able to have that ability will allow us to provide the services in a much faster, efficient way to ultimately those that need it.”

Baysinger recalled the difficulty finding supplies during the 2003 Old Fire in San Bernardino County, which killed six and destroyed 192 structures while burning more than 91,000 acres. Back then, it was hard to find shovels, gloves and other equipment to help families find items left behind, she said.

“It really just warms my heart to know that, in the event that we have a major wildfire … we have a partner that can dispatch all of the supplies that the community is going to need in that moment’s notice,” Baysinger added.

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