Anthony Lo Monaco shows where an engine fire burned the hood of his food truck while he was driving after a day of work.

Community members and fellow food truck owners have rallied around Tony’s Italian Kitchen after an engine fire two weeks ago put the kibosh on the popular mobile business’ pizza, pasta and subs.

Support has ranged from donations to a GoFundMe campaign and hot meals dropped off for owners Antonio and Sarah Lo Monaco at their Sams Valley home, to help with mechanics and daily text messages checking on the progress of the truck’s repair.

The fire happened May 29 as the couple headed to park at the Emerald Triangle dispensary at the corner of Table Rock and Vilas roads in Central Point. While waiting to turn left from Table Rock onto Antelope Road near Jackson County Vector Control offices, Antonio Lo Monaco stopped at a red light for only seconds before noticing “what smelled like maybe burning plastic.”

“It was taking a few minutes because there was a construction zone, so I was sitting there and remember it smelled like something was melting. It’s an older truck, but I wasn’t expecting anything to be wrong. My first thought was, ‘Well, maybe it’s the construction,’” Antonio said.

“I figured maybe I drove over something and there were just fumes. … I ended up lowering my window, and it was a cold morning, so as soon as I’m lowering it, the air fed the fire and gray and black smoke just started spilling into the truck.”

With the engine smoking, Antonio exited the truck and opened the hood, burning his hands as flames shot upward.

“As soon as I opened up the hood,” he said, “backdraft.”

Sarah Lo Monaco, Antonio’s wife, was driving in her car behind the food truck and called 911. Still in the turn lane and unable to accelerate as the fire consumed electrical wires under the vehicle’s hood, Antonio tried to push the flames back with a fire extinguisher.

Other drivers pulled over to do the same. Two bystanders — a UPS driver and someone driving a landscape company vehicle — helped put out the flames before they reached the interior of the truck.

“If not for those guys, I really believe that it would have completely burned,” Antonio said.

Antonio, who opened the food truck a year ago, said he felt like “a fish out of water” over the past week with the truck out of commission. The 34-year-old of both Mexican and Italian heritage began cooking up his family’s century-old recipes from southern Italy as he grew up in his dad’s restaurants, Antonio’s, in Central Point and Eagle Point.

Antonio and Sarah — Crater High School grads who went their separate ways for college and other life experiences — returned to Sams Valley after they married. Having grown up in the restaurant industry and coming from generations of Italian cooks, Antonio was excited to cook for the community he grew up in.

His truck, which he parks at Rainey’s Corner market in Sams Valley half the week and at Emerald Triangle the other half, is adorned with a custom wrap highlighting his multi-ethnic heritage. It includes the church in Mexico City where he was baptized and his great-grandfather’s restaurant in Palermo, Sicily. The couple’s two dogs, his favorite flowers and the Sicilian symbol of protection are all featured in the design.

As Antonio shared his story of the food truck and fire earlier this week, he pulled out a panda bear keychain his sister in New York gave him for good luck when he first opened. Luck may not have been on their side when the fire started, but the Lo Monacos are quick to acknowledge how community support has kept them going.

“We knew that when we moved back to the valley we were going to have support no matter what, because that’s the kind of community that we have out here,” Sarah said. “But I think what surprised us — and it’s been very overwhelming — is just how much people care about what happened and want to help us to reopen.”

Kala Myers, who owns Got Balls Meatball Truck with her husband, James Myers, was one of several people in the community to reach out to them. Kala told the Rogue Valley Times via text message that an emphasis on “community over competition, even prior to being food truck owners & operators” was a key ingredient in a thriving food truck scene.

“While we both serve Italian food, we offer different things, and it’s really more than the food at the end of the day. The Italian way is to treat everyone like family,” Myers said.

“Everyone has been wonderful to support Antonio & Sarah. … Being a food truck owner is a risky, risky business. We are constantly in danger of losing everything — which I’m thankful didn’t happen to them that fateful day.”

Myers added: “Being resilient is one of the top necessities of running a successful food truck, and we look forward to seeing them back up and running.”

Antonio agreed that resiliency is a key ingredient. He said Wednesday he was eager to wash the engine grease from his hands and get back to his kitchen-on-wheels.

The couple told the Times on May 30 that they were able to start the engine — which will likely need to be rebuilt this summer — and will attempt to reopen this Saturday and Sunday, June 15-16.

The couple also learned after the fire that their food truck insurance had been canceled just weeks before the fire. They’ll continue to fundraise but hope that by operating some hours they’ll generate revenue for further repairs.

The couple said they are excited to feed their customers once again.

“This has just been a challenge that we’ve encountered … but rather than us sit around and wait, we decided we can’t do that,” Antonio said.

“I’m resilient. My family’s resilient. We’re the Lo Monacos, and nothing is gonna stop us from going forward and cooking good food.”

Tony’s Italian Kitchen, per a Facebook post, will be parked at the Emerald Triangle location, 5022 Table Rock Road, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. this weekend. The truck will then resume a regular schedule between Emerald Triangle and Rainey’s Corner.

For updates, visit their Facebook page.

To donate towards repairs, visit the GoFundMe page.