The Kincade Fire ignited late last Wednesday, and less than 24 hours later, Heather Irwin and her nonprofit Sonoma Family Meal leaped into action.

At first she started small, working with Healdsburg chefs to feed people evacuated from Geyserville. But when the fire grew and more evacuations were ordered, Irwin fully activated Sonoma Family Meal’s 7,000-square-foot commercial kitchen in Petaluma.

There, hundreds of volunteers have spent days chopping onions, washing greens and turning tons of raw ingredients into meals for evacuees and first responders. Irwin estimates Sonoma Family Meal has served about 7,000 meals since the Kincade Fire erupted.

By now, it feels like a familiar drill. Irwin started Sonoma Family Meal during the October 2017 Wine Country Fires, rallying chefs together to feed displaced families.

“We know it’s going to keep happening: a fire, an earthquake, a flood,” Irwin said. “This is the most beautiful place on earth. Unfortunately, it’s a little disaster prone.”

At the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, Jose Andres’ global nonprofit World Central Kitchen has once again set up shop, organizing dozens of volunteers per day alongside big-name Bay Area chefs like Chris Cosentino, Traci Des Jardins, Tyler Florence and Guy Fieri.

Tim Kilcoyne, director of chef operations for World Central Kitchen, said the nonprofit has served roughly 15,000 meals to evacuees and first responders since it arrived last week.

“It’s one of those things where unfortunate events like this really bring a lot of people together, but it’s always amazing to see,” he said.

As with the 2017 Tubbs Fire and 2018 Camp Fire, Bay Area restaurants are finding their own ways to help with relief efforts. Local chain Curry Up Now, for example, sent a food truck to Petaluma and Santa Rosa on Tuesday to serve free tikka masala burritos to firefighters, police officers and emergency staff.

In Sonoma Family Meal’s commercial kitchen, Irwin has seen the region’s chefs stream through to help prepare chicken noodle soup, pesto chicken and a taco bar.

Miriam Donaldson of Petaluma’s Wishbone and Amber Balshaw of Preferred Sonoma Caterers have taken on leadership roles alongside Sonoma Family Meal’s in-house executive chef Heather Ames. Chefs from Ramen Gaijin, Sonoma Spice Queen, Jackson Family Wines, Bistro 29, Stark Reality Restaurants and Moustache Baked Goods have contributed to the effort, too.

“We’re locals. We know the region. We know where people are. We know the chefs,” said Irwin, who is also a food writer at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. “We’re really able to activate huge numbers of people who have such huge hearts.”

For Irwin’s crew, feeding first responders and evacuees in the throes of an emergency is actually new. In 2017, the nonprofit formed to help people who lost their homes and were trying to piece together their lives. She still feeds 55 families displaced from the Tubbs Fire four meals every week.

“This isn’t over when it’s over,” Irwin said. “When everybody pulls out and goes onto the next disaster, we stay and serve the people who are really suffering.”

Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker