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Two food carts in the Boise neighborhood went up in flames Sunday afternoon.
Julio Mendoza, owner of Pepe Chile Taqueria, where the fire originated, was walking his miniature schnauzer Pepito when a neighboring cart owner called him, panicky. She said his cart was on fire.
When he got back to his cart, which includes an adjacent covered outdoor seating area, smoke was billowing out of the doors and windows. Small flames quickly grew into tall flames, enveloping his cart and a neighboring cart, Monkey Thai Street Food.
“It was smoke and fire everywhere. I think it was the fryer,” Mendoza says. “Probably the oil or the stove. The stove was probably on.”
Firefighters arrived quickly to the scene to quell the fire, but the damage was already done: The covered seating structure and Mendoza’s cart are charred, as well as the Thai cart beside his. Only the bones of the structures, blackened by the fire, remain.
Twenty minutes after firefighters killed the blaze and roped off the area, Mendoza was across the street watching four firefighters pull loose pieces of metal and wood from the remains of the two carts. A resident of the apartment complex across the street ooked on from behind a fence. He said he felt the heat of the flames on his face as he watched the carts burn.
The owner of the small food cart pod, who lives nearby, told WW he got the call about the fire while he was at church. He was still dressed in his church clothes, outfitted in shiny black boots. He sat quietly on a bench in the pod as he observed a firefighter hosing down part of the cart.
Mendoza, meanwhile, was in surprisingly good spirits. He said he’ll rebuild the cart and get back to business by the end of the month; he’s been at this location for six years and has no plans to move.
Debate over the safety of food carts, which are hugely popular but run on propane tanks that often catch fire or explode, reaches back a decade. Earlier this year, WW explored the curious lack of regulations governing pods where carts pay rent to park and serve customers.
Last week, a food cart in downtown Portland exploded in a fire started by a propane tank. The blast shattered the windows of nearby buildings.
