Vancouver food truck forced to close after fire destroys commissary
Posted March 27, 2023 2:37 pm.
Last Updated March 27, 2023 6:58 pm.
The owner of a Vancouver-area food truck says he’s left heartbroken and shocked after a fire ripped through a shared kitchen he relies on over the weekend.
Kevin McKenzie, the owner of Top Rope Birria, a taco truck, says he was in the middle of service in New Westminster Saturday when he received word from another business that shares the kitchen that the space was on fire.
“It was a challenge. We had to navigate that at the same time as a really busy line of customers. It was a pretty tough day. What can you do when you get news like that? You just kind of take it one minute at a time — nobody’s hurt, there’s nothing you need to do in the moment, so keep going and when the dust settles figure it out,” he told CityNews Monday.
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The fire in East Vancouver was just one of three “significant” ones over the weekend. Vancouver Fire Rescue Services says around 40 firefighters responded to the blaze, which is being deemed suspicious.
“Understandably, we are our busiest we’ve ever been with fire calls and that’s structure fires and fires with damage and outdoor fires,” explained Capt. Matt Trudeau of recent calls.
“Overall, our investigators will go and just investigate for cause and origin. And when we have any indication from our crews, from people on scene, or investigators where there is suspicious activity or something just isn’t right there, we’re going to get our partners in VPD involved and get their arson group involved to continue that investigation to ensure if there is something suspicious that they’re looking into the nature of what happened.”
Firefighters responded to 99 fires (up 14%) and 243 overdoses (up 36%) this past week when compared to the previous. Two of the fires are suspicious and @VancouverPD investigating. pic.twitter.com/Hwm9vvt4dy
— Vancouver Fire Rescue Services (@VanFireRescue) March 27, 2023
McKenzie says without a working kitchen, his business won’t be able to operate for the foreseeable future.
“With the exception of spending a little bit of time in a couple of places that we were able to use before, we’ve been there pretty much the whole time we’ve been operating. I would say two and a half years we’ve been there,” McKenzie said of the commissary.
The timing is poor, as he adds the flames destroyed the kitchen ahead of the busiest months of the year, and just after the winter when things can be slow and costs can rise.
“For so many reasons, the timing is absolutely catastrophic. Had this happened in November, had this happened in December, it would have been tough but it would have been something that we could have navigated quite a bit easier. The timing is horrendous, couldn’t be any worse. That being said, in this industry, we are good at making delicious things out of the, sometimes, sub-optimal ingredients. So I guess that’s where we’re at,” McKenzie said.
Top Rope Birria first launched as a pop-up in November 2020 with the help of McKenzie’s cousin. He says April 2021 is when the truck was bought, with licencing following in May.
“This would have been our third season,” he said.
McKenzie took to social media to share the devastating news, telling his followers that he was “still in shock so bear with me.”
The fire resulted in the damage of “tens of thousands of dollars” worth of equipment, he says, adding that is just the impact on his own business.
“That’s just for me, not to mention Mom’s Grilled Cheese, Shorba Bone Broth, and the Modern Pierogi guys,” he explained.
“We would love to, as I posted, say that we’re going to bounce back, and that’s definitely a possibility. The support has been the best part about this. It’s so overwhelming. I do think that if there is a path forward, we will find it. It’s just going to take some time to navigate.”
McKenzie adds Vancouver is “a tough city to do business in,” noting challenges have only increased in the past couple of years.
Pointing to the expensive rental market, he says these pressures also extend to businesses, telling CityNews it’s “just as bad, if not worse on the commercial side of things.”
For now, McKenzie says whether or not his losses will be covered by insurance is still up in the air.
‘There’s just no other way to say it — I’m heartbroken’
With an investigation underway into the cause of the fire, he adds he isn’t able to elaborate much more.
“The challenges of doing business down there, things like this are happening frequently and I think a lot of people want to put blame somewhere,” McKenzie said. “I think commissary kitchens in that area are extremely difficult to work in. It’s just constantly challenges all the time. Until that’s dealt with, I see it being very, very difficult to do business in that area at all.”
For now, with his truck closed and a lack of clarity looming around when or if he’ll be able to reopen, McKenzie says he’s now taking time to regroup.
“Heartbreak, disbelief — I wish I had something original to say but it’s pretty typical. Absolutely in disbelief,” he told CityNews of how he felt knowing the impact the fire would have on his work.
“It’s weird because obviously our food truck is our livelihood and we were lucky enough to be out with that at the time of the fire. We still have the truck, we still have the ability to rebuild from that, so I feel lucky that no body was hurt and blessed that we’ve had the run we’ve had. But there’s just no other way to say it — I’m heartbroken.”
McKenzie is thanking his customers and the community, who have rallied around him and his truck since it launched.
He hopes to have some pop-ups and other events in the future.
“Onward and upward,” he wrote on Instagram.
