Real Hacienda’s Express Food Truck underwent a major fire in the early morning hours Friday, and owner Armando Ortiz said he thinks it’s a total loss. Ortiz is already working on a plan to replace the truck.
After finishing a job at Glenmore Distillery on 2nd Street around midnight, the truck arrived at Real Hacienda’s Frederica Street location. Shortly after, Ortiz said he saw flames coming from the front of the truck.
Ortiz said that all of the workers were out of the truck and there were no injuries.
“I look out and see a big flame through the window, and I took off running. It was a terrible fire but someone had already called 911,” Ortiz said.
Most of the damage occurred toward the front of the truck — namely under the hood and a short distance into the passenger side of the cabin — according to Ortiz. He noted that the back end still sustained some damage. It all added up to a what appears to be a complete loss of the ability to use the truck.
“I don’t think it’s going to be usable,” Ortiz said. “We’re waiting for the insurance company to tell me, but I think it’s totaled.”
While the food truck is going to be out of commission, Ortiz and Real Hacienda have been working on a concessions trailer that was originally planned to operate in tandem with the truck. Ortiz said he expects it to be a couple of weeks before they get the trailer on the road.
He also plans to purchase a new food truck to replace the one that burned. In the meantime, he said both restaurant locations will still be open as usual as no damage was seen to the Frederica building.
