Phila. City Council President Wants Food Truck Propane Tanks Inspected
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- In the wake of a food truck explosion in July that killed a mother and daughter, the president of Philadelphia City Council wants the fire department to start inspecting propane tanks on curbside food trucks.
Council president Darrell Clarke today introduced a bill aimed at boosting the safety of food trucks. It gives the Philadelphia Fire Department the ability to inspect the propane tanks used on the trucks.
He says he was spurred on by the Feltonville food truck disaster in July.
"So, we'll be working with the fire department (and) any state entity that has some level of concern to make sure that nothing like that ever happens again," Clarke said today.
The Feltonville accident exposed a lack of inspections at either the state or city level, and Clarke admits that confusion over who is responsible to oversee this aspect of food trucks remains.
"When we did the analysis of state law, there was nowhere in there that talked about an inspection process. So we want to make sure that that's done a local level," he said today.
And Clarke believes concern over food truck safety in Philadelphia is widespread.
"We've gotten calls from universities in particular, where there are significant numbers of food trucks that have propane tanks across the city of Philadelphia," he says. "And they're concerned because of the proximity to a whole lot of people -- students, faculty."
The Feltonville explosion happened last July 1st, and two women working on the truck -- a mother and daughter -- later died of their injuries. Investigators believe a leaking propane tank was ignited by the truck's grill.