24-03-2025
Concho Valley food trailer ‘exploded' in storage
Update, March 24, 1 p.m. — A GoFundMe online fundraiser has been launched by Pia Buchwalder, owner of The Tasty Kraut, following the explosion that destroyed her food trailer. To visit it, click here.
SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) Original — The family behind a new mobile German cuisine business operating in the Concho Valley is searching for answers after revealing online that their food trailer 'exploded' while being held in storage following its first week in San Angelo.
According to a post made on The Tasty Kraut's Facebook page, the business will be 'out of business for at least the next few weeks' due to the incident.
Holger Buchwalder, husband of The Tasty Kraut owner Pia Buchwalder, stated that the explosion occurred sometime between when the trailer was stored on March 23 at the Affordable Self Storage site on United States Highway 67 and when they arrived to retrieve the trailer on March 24.
'We were here yesterday cleaning the inside and put it back in the storage,' Holger Buchwalder said. 'When we came here to pick it up this morning to open at Office Depot, … it was like, nothing left.'
San Angelo food trailer to expand operations
The Dove Creek Volunteer Fire Department reported on March 24 that it responded to a structure fire at the Affordable Storage site at 11:45 p.m. on March 23 alongside mutual aid from multiple other fire departments. At the scene, 'it was observed that a storage unit containing a food truck had exploded' and that 'heavy smoke was coming from the unit.' Dove Creek VFD stated that 'there were no injuries reported and the incident was quickly mitigated.'
Holger Buchwalder stated that he does not know what could have incited the blast.
'The only thing I know is that it exploded last night,' Holger Buchwalder said.
In a separate post published on the Facebook page for The Tasty Kraut, it was stated that insurance would cover part of the damage. However, it was also said that 'we don't know how and when we can start again.'
'It was our future here in the States … it was insured, but I don't know how long it takes, and at the moment, we're out of business,' Holger Buchwalder said.
Holger Buchwalder shared that he and his wife moved to Texas from Germany 15 months ago before opening The Tasty Kraut in January 2025. Originally beginning operations in Mertzon, The Tasty Kraut was brought to San Angelo to serve food at events during the week prior to the explosion.
'Last week was so amazing in San Angelo, all the support from the people, everybody liked the food,' Holger Buchwalder said. 'Now we stand here at the rest of our investment, and we don't know where it goes from here.'
A representative of the Affordable Self Storage site where the food trailer was held declined to provide comments when asked for statements by Concho Valley Homepage staff.
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