Guy Fieri Feeds Victims Displaced by California Wildfires

Guy Fieri is giving California wildfire victims a free pass to Flavor Town, reportedly feeding those that have been displaced.

Fieri is working with local residents and organizations including the Salvation Army and Operation BBQ Relief, he told CNN on Sunday. The celebrity chef has set up cooking supplies in the parking lot of a college in Redding, California where he his feeding and sheltering evacuees.

The Food Network confirmed that the “makeshift kitchen” is also serving as a temporary shelter. Fieri is one of the most famous — or infamous — personalities ever to grace the channel. He has hosted shows including Guy’s Big Bite, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and Guy Off the Hook.

“We’re in tough times as a world with all of the things going on,” Fieri told CNN. “And boy, you take a moment like this and you really see what America is made of. A lot of great people coming together.”

There are currently 16 wildfires burning in the state of California that are considered active, according to a report by Time. Eight people have been killed and more than 1,000 homes and business have been destroyed. Fieri pointed out that even people who have been preemptively displaced as a precaution are floundering, without the goods and services they tend to rely on.

“All those basics that we have on a regular basis all of the sudden are gone,” he said. He told reporters that he “can’t even see the sun” where he is in Shasta County, which is up in northern California. An estimated 100,000 acres of the area have been on fire for a week now. That’s only part of the disaster, as fires span the length of the massive state.

Fieri guessed that he cooked for 750 people on Friday. He said that even in the moment of crisis he is “trying to keep the menu interesting.” He explained that he drove up to Redding on a whim along with his son and a few of his friends.

“There’s like, 36,000 folks that have been displaced,” he said.

The fire raging across Shasta County has been named the Carr Fire. On Monday, experts estimated that it was 23% contained. Many areas of the state are experiencing record-breaking heat waves and draughts.

Strictly speaking, this is only the beginning of California’s “wildfire season.” However, in recent years that designation has come to mean less and less, with some experts now claiming that fire season lasts all year.