'Everything Is covered in soot': Kitchen fire forces 2 Milwaukee food trucks to shutdown

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) - A fire at the base kitchen for Cocina Filipina has forced the Milwaukee food truck to shut down operations.

The business had been planning to expand this month with a new vending opportunity at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

The fire left the kitchen unusable, and owner Lupe Moreno says she can’t operate without a city-approved space.

“Now what? What can I do?” Moreno said when she first learned about the fire.

The blaze covered the kitchen in soot, shutting down both Cocina Filipina and Moreno’s other food truck, Modern Maki, which also uses the space.

“There is so much soot in the kitchen; everything is covered in soot. You just wipe your fingers and soot is everywhere,” Moreno said.

The closure forced Moreno to cancel events at Panther Arena, throw away weeks of prepared food and cancel catering orders.

“Any sort of food that was in our base kitchen, our dry storage, anything in the fridge had to get tossed,” she said.

Moreno’s employees have also been affected.

“Our employees have not been working. So that is another loss. Just a lot of losses that you don’t think of when something like this happens,” she said.

She doesn’t have an exact figure for damages but expects costs could exceed $10,000. With both trucks closed, income has stopped, though expenses continue.

“We’re just not generating and regardless of if we’re generating or not our bills are still the same,” Moreno said.

Despite the challenges, she says community support has been encouraging.

“There are some people that have donated that I know but maybe haven't spoken to them in years. To see them just donate and not think twice is really a blessing,” Moreno said.

Moreno and her team are actively seeking a new base kitchen. In the meantime, supporters can contribute through a GoFundMe or purchase gift cards for Modern Maki and Cocina Filipina online.