Whose Job Is It to Keep the Mobile Food Truck Industry Safe?

By John Thomas(photo by author)

美国发展最快的企业之一是什么？如果您猜到了移动食品供应商，那是正确的！美国已经看到了这个行业的急剧增长，美国公众将这种时尚概念用于事件。实际上，一些食品节是完全移动食品供应商集会。

什么是移动食品供应商？移动食品供应商可以由准备和提供食物的食品卡车，拖车，货车或购物车组成。为什么我给您移动食品供应商的定义？公众只认为食品卡车是移动食品供应商，但实际上它们以许多不同的形状和尺寸出现。

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现在，我们已经确定了有关移动食品供应商的好处，让我们看一下这个行业的黑暗方面。大多数移动食品供应商都有丙烷。有人告诉我，大多数消防员通过在气缸顶部使用肥皂水混合物完成了火灾检查。但是车辆内部的管道呢？有人知道连接还是管道是泄漏的？我检查过丙烷泄漏的大多数移动食品供应商没有爆炸，因为排气风扇一直保持在爆炸范围以下。

许多移动食品供应商都使用大型货车，卡车，拖车或转换的露营者。实际上，它们只是车轮上的建筑物，但大多数并不像永久性结构那样建造。如果移动食品供应商的车辆只是车轮上的建筑物，为什么它们没有与建筑物相同的法规？这是大多数问题发挥作用的地方。在建造这些车辆期间，没有人进行检查。这些车辆没有规定，没有建筑法规，管道检查和没有电气检查的规定。

The fire service has stepped in to help this industry avoid incidents likethe one that occurred July 1, 2014 in Philadelphia, in which the operator and her daughter died while operating a mobile food truck. Although the video hit the national news, still no laws have been passed to help owners from preventing this tragedy from happening again. Until now.

在过去的五年中，我一直在努力制定一项条例，国家法规并倡导国家消防协会（NFPA）制定有关如何建造，操作和检查移动食品供应商车辆的标准。

这只是我在移动食品供应商中发现的一些危险：

• Leaking flexible gas lines
• 丙烷泄漏从炉子温指示灯t out
• Even after the propane was disconnected from a trailer, the system leaked enough that it sent my gas meter into alarm
• 宽松的丙烷气缸s
• Flexible ¼-inch pipe for propane gas lines
• Generators leaking carbon monoxide into the vehicle to the point my gas meter went into alarm
• Generator pans filled with oil and gas
• Generators too close to propane cylinders
• Grease in the venting system
• No hood suppression system
• 未经警告的引擎盖和灭火器

So what do we do? How can the fire service help mobile food vendors stay safe? How can the fire service protect the patrons and passersby from injuries and possible death?

直到NFPA为移动食品供应商创建标准或指南之前，消防服务可以通过遵循以下简单步骤来帮助挽救生命和财产：

• Require all mobile food vendors to be inspected by the fire marshal’s Office.
• Enforce inspections by creating an ordinance with safety requirements.
• Within the ordinance, the following safety requirements can be adopted:
• 在国际消防法规下，任何产生油脂的烹饪，潜在蒸气都必须具有引擎盖抑制系统。
• Fryers must have a “K” extinguisher.
• Vehicle must be required to have smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and propane leak detectors.
• NFPA 96 states mobile food vendors need signage to indicate where the propane is stored.
• Require generator inspection checks to ensure generators are not over-loaded or leaking fluids.
• Require signage to indicate where the generator and fuel are located.
• Include a penalty section of the ordinance for mobile food vendors who are not in compliance with the ordinance.
• Once the ordinance has been passed by the local agency’s lawmakers, the fire department can then enforce the inspections of mobile food vendors
• If the township/city has regular mobile food vendors, it makes it easier to conduct the inspections
• Mobile food vendor rallies should have a procedure adopted on how the mobile food vendor vehicles should be set up. Remember, 10 feet between vehicles is required.

Perhaps you have noticed that most of what you see in the proposed ordinance is covered in different sections of NFPA 96, 1192, and 58. Although some people have argued to just have the mobile food owners look through the three standards, even I didn’t want to read through all of these standards. Do you think a mobile food vendor or operator is going to sift through them all? I would assume they would rather take the time to develop new menus or business ideas. If your area is currently using the International Codes, these codes would also come into play, for example, securing pressurized cylinders.

在对餐厅进行检查时，请务必询问员工是否知道塑料抑制系统的工作原理。如果您获得10％的员工，那么您很幸运。在大多数情况下，超过90％的餐厅工作人员不知道该系统要激活或应如何清洁引擎盖和附件设备。在进行一次餐厅检查时，该业务的所有者问我：“拉动站悬挂了什么金属东西？”（它们是旧的熔融链接）。当我所在地区开设一家新餐厅时，我将要访问业主和工作人员讨论消防安全以及系统如何在餐厅工作。如果餐厅工作人员对简单的引擎盖系统的运营不知道，我们如何期望移动食品供应商了解正确建造和维护整个卡车或拖车？他们需要当地执行机构的指导。现在，我们有一个培训课程，可以成为保持移动食品供应商和公共更安全的专家。

The motto is: “Educate Before We Violate.” This means we must educate the business owner, the operators, the chefs and staff on the dangers inherent to the mobile food industry…and what to in case of an emergency.

When an emergency strikes a mobile food vehicle, things go bad quickly. There is not much time to think. Remember, a mobile food truck is like a rolling bomb because the propane is mounted on the vehicle. Unlike a building, the walls on most mobile food vehicles are aluminum with little or no insulation. There are typically no suppression sprinklers and no fire alarms tied into an alarm company. If it is zero dark 30 and a mobile food vendor’s vehicle is parked in a parking lot with other trucks, no one will know of an emergency until the propane cylinder explodes—and by then the vehicle is gone.

In summary, here are some tips to help mobile food vendor owners and operators:

1. 制定一项法令，要求在您所在地区运营之前对移动食品供应商进行检查。
2. Set a permit fee process if you do not have one in place.
3. Train all of inspectors on how to conduct a full and proper inspection of mobile food vendor vehicles.
4. Follow information from the International Fire Codes, NFPA 58, NFPA 96, and NFPA 1192 on hood suppression systems.
5. Notify all mobile food vendors that your district will be conducting a new fire inspection of mobile food vendor vehicles.
6. Work closely with the local court system, health department, and local clerk’s office.

约翰·托马斯是消防部门的27年资深人士，已经调查大火已有26年了。他是新泽西州2级消防服务教练，他教Hazmat，事件命令和火灾调查。托马斯（Thomas）已为执法和律师开展了火灾调查课程。他是Fire Inspector Services LLC的所有者，该公司对移动食品供应商，消防调查，私人行业安全和消防安全以及恐怖主义和反恐。