A food truck on St. Paul's east side erupted into a reported explosion and fire Sunday, sending three adults to area hospitals and leaving firefighters to battle flames in a cramped, hard-to-reach alley. The cause of the blaze has not been determined, and officials have released few additional details about what happened.
St. Paul firefighters said Sunday afternoon they responded to the call about the explosion and fire, according to FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul. Despite difficult access to the fire in an alley, the outlet reports that crews were able to quickly bring the flames under control. Three adults were transported to area hospitals, though no information about their conditions has been released.
Investigation Still Open, Few Details Released
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, and further details were not made available, per the same report. The St. Paul Fire Department did release photos showing the damage left behind by the reported explosion and fire, though officials have not said what ignited it or where exactly on the east side the truck was parked.
How Rare Are Food Truck Explosions?
Incidents like this one are highly unusual in Minnesota. The president of the Minnesota Food Truck Association has described food truck explosions as “amazingly rare,” noting that the state's mobile food vendors are inspected every year by regulatory authorities ranging from health departments to licensing and transportation agencies, according to the Star Tribune. Still, when things do go wrong, the results can be severe: the same association president pointed to a Philadelphia food truck explosion in which grills ignited propane vapor leaking from an unused tank, killing two people. A 2015 explosion in Lakeville, meanwhile, heavily damaged several nearby homes but caused no injuries, the Star Tribune reported.
More recently, a food truck fire at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem injured four people in August 2025. Investigators determined that incident was caused by an interior liquid propane gas leak that was unintentionally ignited by operating equipment, according to WFDD. Those injured were employees of Given Coffee Company, based in Winston-Salem.
What St. Paul Rules Require for Propane Setups
St. Paul's own regulations for outdoor food vendors lay out specific safety requirements for propane use. Per the city's Department of Safety and Inspections, all propane tank installations must be secured and fitted with gas shut-offs, and connections between tanks and cooking equipment must use either a listed or labeled L.P. gas hose or flexible flared copper tubing. The city's rules note that flexible L.P. gas hose may be prohibited under certain circumstances. It has not been established whether Sunday's fire involved a propane system or any other specific cause, and investigators have not said whether the truck's equipment met those standards.
