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Butte County, CA – Celebrity chef Guy Fieri surprised law enforcement officers and firefighters battling the deadly Camp Fire in northern California by bringing a pulled-pork feast to a staging area on Sunday.
The Camp Fire, which has claimed the lives of at least 42 people, has been declared the deadliest fire in the state’s history, The New York Times reported.
More than 200 residents are still missing.
“In today’s tumultuous world, it’s amazing to see our fire fighters, military, law enforcement and first responders come together to rescue our communities devastated by fire,” the Food Network star wrote in a Twitter post on Monday.
“So many great people stepping up to take care of one another,” Fieri added.
The Butte County Sheriff’s Office shared several photos of the gathering at the Butte College staging area.
“Thank you so much Guy for filling our bellies and lifting our spirits,” the agency tweeted.
The Auburn Police Department also shared a photo of Fieri and Officer Joe Almeida standing near a Salvation Army tent.
“Guy is cooking pulled pork dinner for everyone this evening,” the agency’s tweet read. “He had also thanked everyone that is helping out for their hard work! Thank you Guy for your time, support and great food!”
It wasn’t the first time the celebrity chef pitched in to help in the midst of catastrophe.
In July, he and his crew fed Carr Fire evacuees and first responders at a Red Cross shelter in Redding, the Record Searchlight reported.
He spent days serving meals to volunteers, evacuees, and firefighters during the Santa Rosa wildfires in October of 2017.
Fieri was one of approximately 1000,000 residents displaced by the Santa Rosa blazes.
As of Tuesday morning, Camp Fire had burned approximately 125,000 acres and was only 30 percent contained.
The blaze has decimated approximately 260 commercial buildings and 6,522 homes thus far, and is threatening approximately 15,500 additional structures.
More than 90 first responders lost their homes to the inferno as it raged through Butte County on Thursday.
Paradise Mayor Jody Jones told The Sacramento Bee on Sunday that 17 Paradise police officers’ homes had burned to the ground.
“Every member of the town council lost their home,” Jones said. “If you think about it too much, it can overwhelm you.”
The mayor estimated that 90 percent of Paradise’s houses were gone, The Sacramento Bee reported.
Paradise is a popular community for first responders, and many of the heroes who were fighting the Camp Fire were also victims of the same blaze.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said at least 30 sheriff’s deputies had lost their homes in the same fire.
Another eight police officers from Chico returned to find their homes destroyed as well, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Butte College Police Chief Casey Carlson’s home burned to the ground as he worked for 48-hours straight at the command post.
“When we got the evacuation order, I went up to grab a few things, and houses [on the block] were on fire when I was leaving,” Chief Carlson said. “You kind of have to accept it. You know you are helping folks, and that is what matters.”
The chief said the fire helped him realized that possessions were not what mattered.
“I have my kids, the family and the dog. That’s what counts,” he said.
Chief Carlson told the Sacramento Bee that three members of his police department had also lost their homes.
KCRA reported that 53 firefighters had lost their Paradise-area homes in the Camp Fire, but the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) spokesman said they believed that number to be much higher.
“To see the number of them that were out there fighting the fire knowing that their own homes were lost, it’s unbelievable,” IAFF Spokesman Tim Aboudara said.
Aboudara told KCRA about one firefighter who was fighting a blaze only a couple blocks from his own house, and did not know if his fiancé had escaped in time.
“He was just blocks away from his own home, engaged in a fire fight, well aware that his own home was probably on fire,” he said. “He had to stay on mission and keep doing his job.”