Food Trucks

As the popularity of food trucks continues to grow, the Town of Christiansburg wants all food truck vendors to be as safe as possible. The Town of Christiansburg Fire Department has partnered with other fire code enforcement agencies in the Western Region to promote food truck safety through a fire inspection program. The food truck 2Dye4Que at the Christiansburg Farmers’ Market in 2018.

We look forward to food trucks being a part of events in the Town of Christiansburg. The State of Virginia has adopted the 2015 edition of the Statewide Fire Prevention Code (SFPC) and it is currently in effect. This is a normal process that occurs every three years, however, there are significant changes that now regulate mobile food preparation vehicles (MFPV). 

A MFPV is defined as: vehicles and enclosed trailers able to be occupied by persons during cooking operations that contain cooking equipment that utilize open flames or produce smoke or grease laden vapors for the purpose of preparing and serving food to the public.

These new code requirements could change the way you currently operate. To make this process easier for you, the Christiansburg Fire Department, in conjunction with other fire officials from the Western Region of Virginia, will assist you in becoming code compliant. We encourage you to contact the Christiansburg Fire Department at (540) 382-4388 to schedule a time to have our staff conduct an inspection of your vehicle. Under the new regulations, any MFPV vendor that has not been through the inspection process and is not in compliance with the new codes WILL NOT be permitted to operate in the Town of Christiansburg as a vendor.

Once an inspection is completed and the vehicle has been approved to operate as a MFPV, a sticker will be issued for your vehicle that will be recognized regionally. This will streamline the application and setup process in other jurisdictions in the Western Region of Virginia. Once you are set-up in the Town of Christiansburg, you will still be subject to spot-checks by the Fire Marshal and/or Deputy Fire Marshal. They will verify that the following items are in compliance:

  • The fire protection system is in service and properly inspected
  • Fire extinguishers are in service and properly inspected
  • Leak testing is being performed on components of your LP-gas system
  • The exhaust hood is free of excessive grease build up

Knowing that it could take an extended period of time to come into compliance with the new regulations, the Fire Officials from the localities mentioned above, have agreed to give owners of a MFPV until May 1, 2019 to go through the inspection process. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact the Christiansburg Fire Department at (540) 382-4388. The NFPA Food Truck Safety fact sheet may also be a helpful resource.

Thank you for your time and your efforts to keep the Town of Christiansburg safe.