A food truck caught in a gnarly standstill on the westbound 105 after a fatal accident Friday morning made the most patriotic gesture imaginable in Los Angeles — it opened up and started offering service to drivers.

The owner of the truck, Carlos Chavez, told L.A. Taco in an interview that his employees were en route to LAX, where they’ve been vendors permitted to sell inside terminal security to LAX employees for the past ten years.

“El freeway so paró con la explosion and they ended up stuck there with everyone else,” Chavez said. “And since people knew we had food, people started approaching us and asking for something to eat.”

A Fox 11 news chopper happened upon the scene while scanning the stalled freeway after the early morning accident. The crash involved a fuel tanker that burst into a fireball, reports said. Two people were killed.

The accident occurred around 5:15 am in the Hawthorne area near Crenshaw Boulevard, during the early east-to-west rush to LAX and the beach cities. Then the lonchera came to the rescue.

“Usually we never set up somewhere we’re not supposed to,” Chavez added. “The police were not going to do anything.”

Chavez owns the truck at AC Catering, a commissary based in Bell Gardens. An L.A. Times photographer spotted the truck already operating on the freeway before sunrise. Classic American foods adorn its sides, but the owner said the kitchen inside also has carnitas and asada.

Chavez, a native of El Salvador who’s lived in Los Angeles for 40 years, told L.A. Taco that his truck also serves employees at the Chevron refinery in El Segundo.

“We mostly sold breakfast burritos,” the vendor said of the Friday morning impromptu service. “Burritos de asada, tortas, la gente compró de todo … tacos, burritos.”

Hours later, the scene hadn’t been cleared, and drivers near the end of the traffic jam began turning around and driving in single-file in the wrong direction on the westbound 105 to get out of the mess.

This live satellite shot shows the jam still in place past 10 am this morning. “A true L.A. moment,” Fox 11 said of the food truck.

Chavez, 58, said he was pleased with the work of his employees. People who work at LAX and Chevron know them well. “People had to eat,” he said.

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