The Green Tidings food truck sits behind Ellicott Dining Hall after a grease fire closed the popular food truck indefinitely.
Four employees suffered injuries when the Green Tidings food truck caught fire Friday afternoon.
They went to the University Health Center and were later transported to a hospital to treat their burns, Dining Services spokesman Bart Hipple wrote in an email. Three of the employees were released, as of last night.
“We are all sending our best hopes and wishes for speedy recovery to the staff of the truck,” he wrote. “We are firstly worried about the people who have been injured and then will focus on possible next steps for the food truck.”
The nonstudent employees were cleaning up after the truck closed when a grease fire ignited at about 3:20 p.m. Friday, Hipple wrote.
The truck sits behind the North Campus Dining Hall so a fire marshal can assess the situation. The university fire marshal said the fire started from a cooking accident and did not damage the truck.
“I think this is tragic,” Hipple wrote. “The staff of the truck is a skilled, energetic, capable group of people who have worked very hard to make every meal great; not just the food but also the whole experience. We don’t yet know exactly what happened and so can’t know how it could have been prevented.”
Green Tidings’ Twitter account and website states the truck will remain closed until further notice, but Hipple anticipates the truck will reopen after spring break.
“I’m actually so devastated about Green Tidings being out of business, even for a little while,” said Nazar Bedi, a freshman economics major. “I found myself going there so often this semester. It’s going to be weird not seeing the truck around for a while, but I just hope … the truck recovers quickly so I can eat there again soon.”
Even students who do not frequent the truck were saddened by the accident.
“I just got food from Green Tidings for the first time on Friday, and I thought it was really good, so I was planning on trying more food from them this week,” said Lara Fu, a freshman government and politics major.
Many other students were food truck enthusiasts, such as Josef Danczuk, who became a fan when the truck first opened this summer.
“I love how the menus change every two weeks, and this week’s menu looked particularly tasty,” the junior government and politics major said. “Last week, I had the beef tacos, donuts and clam chowder, but it looks like I won’t be getting those for a while … I’ll survive without Green Tidings, though. I just hope everyone is OK from the fire and that there’s no permanent damage.”
