PORTLAND, Ore. — Multiple food carts in a North Portland pod caught fire on Sunday afternoon, according to Portland Fire & Rescue.
Firefighters responded just before 3 p.m. to reports of the fire, which broke out at a food cart pod near the intersection of North Vancouver Avenue and North Fremont Street. Photos from the initial response showed at least one cart gutted by fire, though firefighters were able to knock down the flames to prevent further spread.
Once fire crews doused the flame, two food carts were left completely destroyed: Monkey Thai Street Food and Pepe Chile Taqueria.
The owner of Pepe Chile told KGW that the fire destroyed more than the cart — it took years of hard work.
"It was hard to open a business, it's not easy," said Julio Mendoza. "People get to know you and get good tacos. It was days, hours of no sleep, you know?"
Vicki said that she was first to notice the fire.
"I got out in the back of the Thai restaurant — in the back there I saw smoke," Vicki said. "I'm the first one who saw it, called 911, called police."
Fire officials have not yet released any information about what may have caused the fire.
At the end of August, a food cart in downtown Portland exploded, shattering hundreds of nearby windows and damaging nearby carts. Fire investigators said it appears to have been a fuel gas explosion caused by something like propane.
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