WATCH ABOVE: Edmonton food trucks could be under the microscope. Safety concerns have surfaced after a number of trucks failed to meet certain requirements. Lisa Wolansky reports.
EDMONTON – Food truck safety is under the microscope in Edmonton after one-third of the trucks at a recent festival failed to meet fire safety regulations.
Deputy Chief Russell Croome with Edmonton Fire Rescue says about 40 trucks underwent fire inspections at the ‘What the Truck?!’ event at Churchill Square in late May.
“A good number of those had deficiencies,” he said. “It might have been an outdated fire extinguisher, as simple as that, or it could be that it requires a ventilation system.”
In order for a food truck to operate in Edmonton, owners must pass a health inspection, and obtain a business licence, parking permit and vending permit from the city. Annual fire inspections are not mandatory to receive operating permits, but Croome says inspectors are allowed to do random inspections at city events.
“We’re hoping to improve on that process to provide an efficient way to inspect all of the food trucks in the City of Edmonton, but it’s a work in progress,” said Croome.
“What we’re doing now is strengthening our monitoring programs and ensuring that prior to us issuing any permits that we have the proper inspections in place,” added Scott Mackie, manager of Current Planning with the City of Edmonton.
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Troi LaFleche, who owns The Patty Wagon, is fairly new to the food truck scene; he just started operating in May but welcomes any and all inspections.
“I think it’s great for them to come out and check everything to make sure the trucks are safe and running so that there’s going to be no incidents with the public or us out on the street,” said LaFleche.
Owners of food trucks that do not meet the fire safety requirements can be fined. They also run the risk of having their business licence suspended or revoked.
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