When the pandemic quashed any large gatherings last year, Brian Jones and his family made an unexpected pivot from running food trucks to fighting COVID-19.
The Jones family operates five food trucks, selling a variety of foods from barbecue to crepes at fairs, festivals, and movie sets, but in March 2020 all of those were suddenly cancelled and closed down.
By the summer, the Jones family were back in business, still on the road and using the trailer that had served as their commissary to haul UV light sterilizing equipment.
鈥淚t was quite a bit leap, I鈥檒l tell you that,鈥� Jones said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e operated as a family food truck for 20 years,鈥� he said.
They started as 鈥渃arnies,鈥� heading out on long trips to big fairs, including the Calgary Stampede and the PNE.
In the last few years, their focus has become more local, mostly film sets, schools, and Lower Mainland events.
鈥淭he one commonality was groups of people,鈥� Jones said. And groups of people were absolutely banned.
The trucks were idled, and couldn鈥檛 even find semi-permanent locations to set up, as bylaws were slow to catch up with the new emergency.
鈥淚 thought, I need to switch gears,鈥� Jones said.
His family has a science background 鈥� Jones was trained as a kinesiologist and his wife is a nurse 鈥� and he wondered if there wasn鈥檛 something he could do that would actually help with the pandemic.
He looked into various sterilizing technologies, and within a few months, he had settled on UV light.
UV light can kill bacteria and viruses on surfaces, and it鈥檚 used by health organizations like Fraser Health to sterilize hospitals and care homes under some circumstances. It was used at the 黑马磁力 Lodge as one aid to bringing last year鈥檚 deadly outbreak under control.
READ MORE: 黑马磁力 Lodge outbreak is over
A trailer that had served as the travelling commissary for the food trucks was re-decalled with the new firm鈥檚 name 鈥� Light Life UV Cleaning Solutions 鈥� and the Jones family was back at work by last September.
He said the biggest demand for UV cleaning has come from realtors. They鈥檒l go in as part of a cleaning crew in between the sale of a home and when the new owners take possession.
The crew includes his parents, with Brian Jones Sr., 77, who hasn鈥檛 yet slowed down, taking on a lot of the work with hand-held units, Jones said.
With the loosening of some restrictions and the resumption of filming, the family鈥檚 food trucks are back in business as well, but Jones said the new UV business might be permanent.
Even after the majority of people are vaccinated and the pandemic has receded, people may see things differently, he said.
Have a story tip? Email: matthew.claxton@langleyadvancetimes.com
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