An early Saturday morning fire in Whittier has resulted in injuries for five people, with two listed in critical condition and three others also hurt after a food truck, belonging to a local coffee shop, caught fire outside its storefront. According to KTLA, the incident occurred at approximately 9:15 a.m. on the 6700 block of Greenleaf Avenue, and emergency responders quickly arrived on the scene following reports of the explosion.
The food truck in question was operated by Lift Cafe, which had resorted to temporarily shift their operations to a mobile setting after their restaurant's roof had remarkably fallen in. This unfortunate sequence of events was confirmed by a post on the coffee shop's Instagram account. Authorities at the Los Angeles County Fire Department initially described the incident as an explosion, but the Whittier Police Department has since qualified it as a fire. "It's a shame to hear what happened to that truck, too," Glenn Landrum, a Whittier resident expressed to NBC Los Angeles, recognizing the compounded tragedy for the coffee shop owners.
All five victims sustained burn injuries, and as of now, it is unclear whether the individuals were employees or customers—or a possible mix of both. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating the incident to ascertain the series of unfortunate developments that led to the blaze. The exact cause of the conflagration has yet to be determined. Footage captured from the scene showed police squad cars and caution tape cordoning off the area, while injured individuals were tended to by medical personnel, as reported by ABC7.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department has suggested that the incident appears to have been the result of a propane explosion, but their investigation into the exact cause is still in the preliminary stages.
