Guy Fieri and José Andrés, alongside several other celebrity chefs, dedicated their Thursday to cooking thousands of Thanksgiving dinners for victims of the deadly Camp Fire in Northern California.
Andrés and NorCal native Fieri were joined by Tyler Florence and Jenn Louis, with Andrés estimating 15,000 meals would be served on Thursday. Andrés tweeted the cooks were joined by 800 volunteers in Chico, California — a neighboring city to Paradise, California, which has been devastated by the fire.
“The least we can be doing today, on Thanksgiving, is all coming together to show the people what they deserve: love and support, one plate of food at a time,” Andrés said in a Thursday morning Twitter video.
Fieri, tweeting before the sun came up, said they were “goin’ for 7,000 [pounds] of Turkey on 6 smokers.” Reno Gazette-Journal reporter Benjamin Spillman also tweeted a photo of Fieri behind the grill.
Fieri later tweeted a picture thanking the “dedicated hard working” fire fighters who have battled the fires for several weeks.
The brave fire fighters of Cal Fire.
They are a dedicated hard working team that we should all be thankful for @CAL_FIRE @chefjoseandres pic.twitter.com/Per5oJppKr— Mayor Guy Fieri (@GuyFieri) November 22, 2018
This isn’t the first time Fieri has offered a helping hand, either. The Food Network host helped feed evacuees of a Redding, California fire earlier this year.
And Andrés has been widely praised for his dedication in Puerto Rico, where he served millions of meals to people recovering from Hurricane Maria. As the New York Times wrote in October 2017:
No other single agency — not the Red Cross, the Salvation Army nor any government entity — has fed more people freshly cooked food since the hurricane, or done it in such a nurturing way.
After two weeks of devastation, the Camp Fire is now 90 percent contained, according to CBS News.The Butte County Sheriff’s Office said two more people died on Wednesday night, bringing the total number of people killed to 83. More than 500 people are still missing. The Camp Fire burned the town of Paradise, California — population 27,000 — to the ground, and has forced thousands of residents in surrounding communities into shelters.
The Thanksgiving event was hosted by the World Central Kitchen, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico State, Associated Students, Paradise Unified School District and Chico Unified School District.