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The food truck where two employees were critically injured and one person seriously hurt had not renewed its license since 2013.
The El Tacarajo truck was operating illegally on Saturday when an accidental explosion caused by employees refilling a gas tank ignited with an open flame. The Marion County Health Department had sent notice to the truck's owners to stop operating but the taco truck remained a common fixture at the Pic-A-Part salvage yard on West 16th Street where it rented space.
Juan Bravo, mobile equipment specialist with the MCHD says they do conduct surprise investigations, but they're often times looking for food violations.
"Mishandling of food, hand washing, making sure that the equipment is working, any blocked sinks which would indicate that they aren’t washing their hands," explained Bravo.
To get a truck registered people have to go through an application process. It's the responsibility of the food truck owner to keep their license up to date and train all employees. Marion County currently has 111 licensed food trucks.
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