Guy Fieri and José Andrés Help the Northern California Wildfire Relief Effort

As wildfires rip through large swaths of Northern California, two celebrity chefs are doing what they can to help feed firefighters and the people who have been displaced by this awful natural disaster.

Over the weekend, Guy Fieri helped the Red Cross feed evacuees of the deadly Carr Fire in a makeshift kitchen at Shasta College in Redding, California. The Food Network star was working with the crew from Operation BBQ Relief, a non-profit organization that sends smokers and pit crews to feed large groups of people displaced by natural disasters. This is the same squad that Fieri summoned last fall to help feed the victims of the Sonoma County fires. SF Gate notes that Fieri and the rest of the volunteers helped serve meals to 1,400 evacuees and first responders yesterday.

The Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives host made the trip from his hometown of Santa Rosa to Redding with his son and a bunch of their family friends. “We loaded up our caravan from the wine country, and drove four hours up here.” Fieri told CNN yesterday. “[We’re] just working arm in arm with the Salvation Army, and local chefs and residents and everybody, just helping out the evacuees. There’s like 36,000 folks that have been displaced, so it’s quite a program.” The celebrity chef said that he was “trying to keep the menu interesting.”

José Andrés also dispatched the team from his world-saving non-profit organization World Central Kitchen to Shasta County to help with the relief effort. On Twitter, Andrés notes that the World Central Kitchen crew is delivering meals to victims of the wildfires and first responders in a coordinated effort with the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and the CA Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, as well as Fieri and the Operation BBQ Relief crew.

Since it first began one week ago, the Carr Fire has burned through 95,000 acres. Six people — including two firefighters — have died, and over 850 structures have been decimated. The SF Chronicle reports that the fire was 17 percent contained by the end of the day Sunday, a big jump from the five percent figure earlier that day. To contribute to the relief effort, head to the Salvation Army homepage or the Red Cross website.

• Guy Fieri serves up barbecue to hundreds of NorCal fire evacuees [SF Gate]
• Deadly blaze near Redding claims 6th life [SF Chronicle]
• @joseandres [E]
• Celebrity chef Guy Fieri helps feed fire crews [CNN]