Father of six, owner of Detroit's Original Seafood Truck in burn unit after propane explosion
DETROIT - He's a familiar face around Detroit, as well as our Fox 2 newsroom - as recently as last September.
Rashad Torrence, the owner of Detroit's Original Seafood was a staple of the food truck game in the city. But after an accident in his food truck, Torrence has been hospitalized with second-degree burns to his face and hands.
"My daughter called and said something happened, he got burned," said Aleice Montgomery, Torrence's mother in law. "There was a fire. You got to go to the hospital. I'm like 'huh?'"
Detroit's Original Seafood owner hospitalized after propane explosion in food truck
Rashad Torrence, a staple of Fox 2's morning cooking segments has been hospitalized with second-degree burns to his skin. While gearing up for Smoke on the River at Detroit's West Riverfront Park, Torrence went to turn on the fryers when a propane tank blew up. It knocked Torrence out of the truck, but his kids were okay. Now, Torrence is laying on a hospital bed while his truck is damaged.
Squeezed between two bad weather days was a sublime Saturday afternoon. Torrence was with his kids, gearing up for the Smoke on the River event on Detroit's West Riverfront Park when he went to light one of the truck's fryers. It ignited in a bigger way than they were ready for.
"It was a burst of flames and it knocked my dad out of the truck. I thought it was gonna explode - the whole truck was gonna explode," said Rashad Torrence Jr. his son.
Torrence spoke to FOX 2 over the phone. Photos show discolored skin to his face and lips. He said the explosion knocked him out of the truck
"I'm on the ground, laying down after the explosion blew me out of there," he said.
As the cook's kids made it out of the truck safely, Torrence grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out the fire. As witnesses ran to help, Torrence was rushed to the burn unit of the Detroit receiving hospital.
"Right here and right here, all of this. His lips, and on this side, but this side is worse," said Montgomery, gesturing first to her hands, then to both sides of her face.
Remarkably, Torrence was the only one injured in the freak incident. However, his truck is damaged and out of service. People late to the news were sending texts to Torrence's wife, looking for the Original Seafood truck.
"We're trying to see if we can keep something going but right now his truck is down so that's the problem," said Montgomery.
Like the caretaker he is, Torrence needs rest. But all he can think about his getting back to work.
"I hate to say it but it's a flame that I can't put out. It's a wildfire. I just love taking care of people feeding the soul."
You can learn how to help Torrence at his gofundme here.