A fire Tuesday morning destroyed several food carts near the Portland State University campus.
Crews were called at about 4:30 a.m. to the fire on Southwest 4th Avenue, between College and Hall streets.
Firefighters responded and quickly and extinguished the fire, but 4th Avenue was closed for hours due to a leaking propane tank. The street reopened just before 8 a.m.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Six carts were damaged and at least four are expected to be a total loss. Reportedly, the heavily damaged carts included Krua Bangkok, Rice and Noodle, Comfortably Yum, Phat Cart and the Fusion Box.
Rice and Noodle owner Achilles Lam says he's owned this cart, at this location, for more than seven years. He says he lost everything in the fire.
"It's pretty bad," he said. "They told me it's totaled. I wanted to go inside. They said I can't."
Chris Stewart captured the fireball on camera. "It sounded like a jet was going off. The flames were shooting in the air like a huge blowtorch. It was pretty crazy. We thought they were going to explode," he said.
It was at that point, he put the camera down, and ran for cover. The fire brings into question the safety of food carts.
Assistant Fire Marshal Doug Jones says because the carts have wheels, they aren't considered buildings. And are therefore not directly regulated. He says they do perform walk-through inspections on carts from time to time, and the focus is on education for fire safety.