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[XiaNaphryz]

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Guy-Fieri-Brings-Barbecue-Smoker-to-Santa-Rosa-12274318.php

Celebrity chef Guy Fieri arrived at a Santa Rosa evacuation center on Thursday morning with a trailer, a crew, a wood-fired oven and a barbecue smoker, cooking meat for evacuees and sending plumes of smoke into an already smoke-filled sky.

Fieri spoke with KQED at his makeshift operation in the Veterans Memorial Building parking lot on Thursday. "We're feeding folks in the shelter that have been displaced," he said. "Plus volunteers here on the ground, plus the military. We just did around 1,200 for lunch, we started this morning. Now everyone's having a little break, and we're getting ready to do dinner. That'll be about 2,500."

Fieri said he was in bed Monday morning at his house in Santa Rosa when his wife woke him up. "The smoke was really bad," he said. "We had to evacuate at two in the morning, and we grabbed what we could, taking pictures off the wall as fast as we could. Jumped in the truck, loaded in the dogs, and away we went."

The couple spent five hours outside the fire boundary in waiting. Fieri's house, "a block and a half from Coffey Park," the neighborhood destroyed in Monday night's blaze, was spared, he said.

Despite his history in the city, criticism follows the bleached-hair, goateed celebrity wherever he goes. As soon as photos of Fieri's operation popped up on social media, a storm of criticism followed, deriding the setup as a publicity stunt and the choice of a barbecue smoker, especially, as inconsiderate to victims of the fire.

"If that's what you think and you're that shallow at a time like this with what we're facing, then there's no changing your mind about that," Fieri told KQED. "This isn't a PR stunt. You don't see my banners up. I'm not promoting anything. I'm just here cooking. This is feeding people. People need help, and I'm here to help. That's it."

When asked if the barbecue smoker was an appropriate choice considering the smoke and fire in the devastated area, Fieri got defensive. "I don't even have anything to say about that," he told KQED. "That's a ridiculous question. And that's a ridiculous statement. I mean, come on. What do you want me to do?"

Fieri was certainly not the first in the food industry to arrive to the shelter. For days, chefs and restaurant owners all over the county — Dustin Valette in Healdsburg, Daniel Kedan in Forestville, and many others — have assisted at shelters to augment Salvation Army and Red Cross efforts. On Tuesday night, Vero's Kitchen came to the Veterans Building and prepared taco plates for the hundreds housed there. Many civilians like Jennifer Torrey, a data analyst at Exchange Bank who does private chef work and has been cooking at the shelter around the clock since Monday, have stepped in to help at the Veterans Building.

Now, Fieri's star stands to eclipse their efforts. A source close to the evacuation center said that the celebrity operation in the parking lot — surrounded by yellow tape to keep people away — may take over all cooking duties from the small volunteer kitchen crew inside the building.

At 1pm on Thursday, volunteers inside the building's auditorium served hot dogs, pork and beans, and other simple fare. One volunteer who asked not to be named said she did not know the status of Fieri's involvement.

"He's just out there doing his thing," she told KQED.

 

[Tagyhag]

Good intentions...nooot the best way to go about it.

 

[Oberon]

At least he wasn't wearing his flame shirt

 

[elrechazado]

I can't stand this guy, but...good for him? People complaining about this are being silly. Cooking food requires the application of heat.

 

[TheContact]

Really good on him to do this. Respect.

 

[Count Dookkake]

His name is really close to "fiery," too.

Has he no shame?

 

[Lonewulfeus]

Like adding a few more drops of water to the ocean at this point. Looks way worse than it is though, he's doing a good thing by feeding evacuees. I hate guy fieri but I can't fault him too much here.

 

[LaneDS]

As ridiculous as Guy Fieri is, hard to get mad at a dude who also had to evacuate trying to help some other people out (with a smoker or otherwise).

 

[DietRob]

Don't really see a problem with it. He's feeding a lot of people that need help.

This is a 'bitch with crackers' situation.

 

[mike6467]

But did he play Walkin' on the Sun?

 

[Sylas]

It’s pretty fucking stupid to get mad at someone that is objectively providing relief by feeding people that need to be fed and is genuinely trying to do the right thing.

 

[Poppy]

you know its the little fire decals at the top that really make it kinda uncomfortable

otherwise i was ready to just say come on its food, people arent gonna care about that shit. i mean thats still how i feel but

 

[Heckler456]

Saw his Hot Ones episode. He seems like an alright guy.

 

[Slime]

I doubt the people getting free food were all that offended, Twitter.

 

[kirblar]

That's hilarious. Good on him and the others helping out though - bringing in so many people that the local volunteer cooks are free to do other things is great.

 

[Jakoo]

While I understand the impulse to dunk on Guy Fieri, I don't know how helpful it is clown on somebody who is trying to do charitable work just because it's a little tone deaf.

Do we really want people to think about "optics" before going out and helping people?

 

[- J - D -]

What? This criticism is dumb. He's taking his time and feeding tons of people. Good on him.

 

[NealMcCauley]

I feel like for feeding large groups a smoker is a necessity.

 

[badboy78660]

Dude might look like he was struck by lightning while drinking mountain dew, but this is awesome and generous of him. Good guy Guy

 

[Zyae]

It's funny but what's the problem.

 

[Robdraggoo]

I believe he did this out of the goodness of his heart.

I also believe he was stupid enough to not realize using a smoker was insensitive

 

[djplaeskool]

Please let me know if you can think of a better way to cook enough food to feed a whole bunch of people at the same time without a smoker or giant grill..
Optics concern trolling be damned when the dude is feeding people.

 

[Curious Puppy]

What's the best way to describe this? Twitter outrage backfire?

 

[slyfox]

Awesome thing to do. Love his show and always comes off as a cool dude

 

[sarcastor]

Wtf. Did people expect him to feed 2500 people with microwaves?

He's not using a flamethrower to grill meat. He's providing thousands of people with food on his dime and there are still haters?

 

[Extra Sauce]

Relevant

 

[The Culture Vulture]

People gotta eat.

 

[EloquentM]

I ain’t mad at em

 

[Obliterator]

I'm not sure the extent people are getting upset at him but this would seem a very very strange thing to get mad over if there are people who are.

Seems like he's doing a pretty good thing to me

 

[Maridia]

I believe he did this out of the goodness of his heart.

I also believe he was stupid enough to not realize using a smoker was insensitive

How long should the displaced be forced to eat cold food before it becomes appropriate to eat something touched by heat, fire, or smoke again?

 

[Superflat]

He's helping feed thousands of people every day. Jesus some people don't know when to shut up.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

I didn't know the dude cooked. Thought he just drove around and eats.

 

[badcrumble]

that's an insanely alpha move

 

[Wag]

Nothing like BBQ while watching your house burn.

 

[nded]

OMG it's like serving flood victims soup. This fucking Guy

Spoiler

sarcasm

 

[AdventureMike]

I mean, I could see the argument if the whole time he was blaring Rage's "Sleep now in the fire" or something.

Dude is just helping the community by feeding people, lay off him.

 

[Mick Swagger]

I feel like for feeding large groups a smoker is a necessity.

Pretty much my first initial thought so non-story.

 

[elrechazado]

Wtf. Did people expect him to feed 2500 people with microwaves?

He's not using a flamethrower to grill meat. He's providing thousands of people with food on his dime and there are still haters?

They're doing much more to actually help people by criticizing the person giving out food via their online concern trolling.

 

[Foggy]

It's an easy way to make a ton of food for people who would appreciate it. Good on him.

 

[MisterR]

This is the dumbest shit I've seen lately, which is saying something. You generally need heat to cook meat. Dumb shits on twitter getting outraged over nonsense as usual. Good on Fieri.

 

[Count Dookkake]

Out of respect, no flames should be used in cooking for the duration of the disaster.

 

[Machine]

This feels like people looking for a reason to be offended because they don't like him. He comes out to cook for people in need and they attack him because of the heat source he uses? Come on man.

EDIT: Although if he serves his "donkey sauce" he can fuck right off!

 

[ZOONAMI]

He is feeding a shit ton of people. I actually agree with him that the criticism on this is ridiculous.

If you made a shit ton of salads with zero footprint and then had a smoker next to it in the middle of a fire, and you gave people a choice, I bet anyone who isn’t a vegetarian would get in the line for the smoker lol.

 

[Keyouta]

He's helping feed tons of people, I really don't see an issue with this. Even though the area was devastated by fire, I doubt anyone cares that he's using a smoker.

 

[MattKeil]

Are people mad that rescue workers in flood zones hand out bottled water, too?

 

[Judderman]

He just wants to bring Flavortown to some downtrodden folks.

 

[kirblar]

Wtf. Did people expect him to feed 2500 people with microwaves?

He's not using a flamethrower to grill meat. He's providing thousands of people with food on his dime and there are still haters?

The air quality is really bad due to the smoke, but the smoker is a drop in the bucket compared to the forest fires. He just didn't think that part through.

It's way more hilarious than it is actually harmful here.

 

[elrechazado]

Out of respect, no flames should be used in cooking for the duration of the disaster.

Burger King should shut down for a week, nationally, or face my social media outrage campaign over their use of flame broiling

 

[Evil John Locke]

Oh come on you sticks in the mud, that is a hilarious headline

 

[Bronetta]

Basically this. He's doing a good thing in this case but since people don't like him they won't like anything he does.