About this directory
This is a free, public directory of Type 3 wildland fire caterers — mobile catering operators who feed wildland fire camps of roughly 100–500 personnel. These are the operators a procurement unit turns to when an incident is below the national mobile food services contract, or when the national caterers decline or are already committed.
Where "Type 3" comes from
"Type 3 caterer" is industry and regional usage, not a national standard. The interagency incident business standards recognize the category as Food Service, Catering — mobile catered meals in quantities under the national contract's minimum order, hired at per-meal rates. Under the current (2025–2029) national mobile food services contract, federal agencies must order a national caterer when feeding is expected to reach 200 or more people per meal for at least 72 hours (the prior contract used 150, and some interagency guidance still cites that figure). Below that threshold — or when the national caterers decline or are committed — incidents hire the operators listed here. Some states run their own programs with their own specs, such as the Northern Rockies Type III agreements (50–149 persons) and Oregon's Type 3 mobile food services agreements (up to 500 meals per service).
There are only a few dozen of these operators in the country, and until now there has been no single place to find them. Procurement officers have relied on personal rolodexes and word of mouth. This directory exists to replace that with something anyone can use.
What we cover today
- Pacific Northwest — 2 operators listed
- Northern California — 1 operator listed
- Southern California — 1 operator listed
- Northern Rockies — 1 operator listed
- Great Basin — 1 operator listed
- Southwest — 1 operator listed
Counts include clearly-marked sample listings shown for demonstration. Regions not listed above are not yet covered — if you work in one of them, tell us who operates there.
How operators are ordered
Operators are listed alphabetically, and the order is fixed when the site is built — nothing in your browser ever reorders them. Every qualifying operator is listed equally: there is no featured placement, no paid placement, and no ranking, including for the operator who suggested building this. Filtering hides listings that do not match what you asked for; it never promotes one above another.
Who runs it
The directory is maintained by Sofoklis K., an independent steward with no ownership stake in any listed operator, reachable at sofoklis@merakilabs.ai. It was initiated with the encouragement of MPIER Catering (Bend, OR), who asked for exactly one thing: that every operator be treated the same. All qualifying operators are listed equally, in alphabetical order, with no featured placement and no paid placement — including MPIER.
What "verified" means
Every listing shows a verification date. Verified active means the steward confirmed, on that date, that the operator was in business and reachable at the listed contacts. It is not an endorsement, a quality rating, or a statement that the operator meets any agency's contracting requirements — confirming qualifications remains part of the procurement process.
Listings are re-verified before each fire season. A listing that has not been re-verified in the current calendar year is visibly marked as such rather than quietly left in place — you can judge the freshness of every entry yourself.
What this directory does not cover
- The national mobile food services contract — Type 1 caterers are ordered through the national system, not found here.
- Small local providers — restaurants and food trucks serving spike camps or crews under ~100–150 people are outside our scope.
- Availability and pricing — both change incident to incident. The directory gets you to the right phone numbers fast; the call is still yours to make.
Get listed, or help the census
If you operate a mobile kitchen serving wildland fire camps, request a listing — it is free, and no account is needed. If you know an operator who is not listed, report them. The goal is a complete roster for every region we claim to cover, and every report helps.
Disclaimer
Listing in this directory is not an endorsement. Verification is not a statement of qualification. Information is provided in good faith from operators and public sources and may contain errors — tell us and we will fix them. Procurement decisions, including confirmation of any operator's eligibility and qualifications, remain the responsibility of the contracting agency. Sample listings, clearly marked, are fictional and included only to demonstrate the format.