Taco Truck Burns in Benicia

A taco truck parked next to the at 457 Military East caught fire and burned this afternoon when the driver was trying to jump start the engine while pouring gasoline into the carburetor.

The truck is a poplular lunch time stop for many Benicians.

According to Fire Chief Steve Vucurevich dispatchers received a call reporting a possible structure fire at 3:48 p.m.  The first unit on the scene arrived at 3:51 p.m. and the fire was under control about seven minutes after that .

Cesar Macias of Vallejo was cooking in the truck when the fire started.  “”I was cooking over there,” he said, indicating the back of the truck.  The only exit from the kitchen area of the truck is toward where the fire was burning forcing Macias to take a hot footed exit.

“I ran into the fire a little bit,” said Macias.  “I did it fast though.”

According to Vucurevich the battery on the vehicle was dead.  “They were trying to jump the battery at the same time they were pouring gas into the carburetor,” said Vucurevich.  “Something ignited the gas.”