Popular Bend food truck catches fire

People at a popular Bend eatery are picking up the pieces after a fire broke out in a food truck.

Witnesses say Thailandia, one of the food trucks at the lot, caught fire around 8:45 p.m. Thursday.

Others working at The Lot helped clean up the damage Friday. Owners of Thailandia were planning on moving locations at the end of the month, and are hopeful they can reopen in about a week.

Johnny Mehas of Greek Street Catering was there when the fire started. He said he was closing up his truck when bright lights from the fire department vehicles outside caught his attention.

“I stepped out of my truck and walked down, and the fire department was right out here on it, and basically heard a boom and we saw smoke coming out the exhaust tank up there,” he said.

Officials said the cause of the fire could not be determined for certain, but it was likely electrical. The losses are estimated at around $3,000.

Mehas said the flames burned through the plumbing lines running to the sink in the cart, and that helped extinguish the fire. He said he and others working there were glad to help in the cleanup.

“This is a team effort here. We have each other’s back,” Mehas said. “We’re all in the same business together. We’re in the same spot. So it’s one of those where we want to help each other when one is down. That’s just kind of how we do it around here.”