The Cure for a Quick Comeback From a Restaurant Fire | #ESC_LLC #Restaurant #Fire #Business | When a kitchen fire in a well established restaurant burns out of control, the outcome is all too often lost business, lost employees, and a lengthy comeback. The question is, how can you, as a restaurant owner, reduce the devastation, thus shortening the time it takes to rebuild and return to the successful business you once had? The quick answer is not to have one at all, but that’s not always possible.
“The answer to that question is how well the fire protection company installed the fire suppression system that protects your kitchen appliances from fire,” says John Larkin, Senior Partner with Electronic Systems Consultants of Greater Ohio. “If they did their job right, it will only be a few minutes until the fire is extinguished, thus shortening the time before your operation is back to normal. On the other hand, if they didn’t do the job correctly, then the period of burn can be considerable, which could result in the complete destruction of your restaurant.”
The key to quickly knocking a fire down in a commercial restaurant kitchen involves three important things:
- Having a quality fire suppression installed that includes electric and/or gas shutoffs.
- A nozzle inside the ductwork and hood.
- Proper ongoing maintenance.
Number 3 includes checking the operation of the fire suppression system as well as the proper operation of the hood system and the exhaust duct that carries combustible fumes outside the restaurant.
An electrically-controlled gas shutoff valve on all cooking appliances that uses natural or propane gas assures that these appliances will stop working when the fire suppression system triggers. Properly installed electrical contactor(s) also assure that electrically-operated appliances (see pictures of both below please) and other hardware stop working when the fire suppression goes off. This includes the activation of the hood fan in order to remove the smoke once the fire has been extinguished.
As a matter of course, ESC will automatically price and install these items because we really don’t want your restaurant to burn to the ground. We want you to remain an ESC customer for many, many years to come and that’s not going to happen if your establishment is ravished by an uncontrollable fire. There’s more:
“In addition, you need to have a 6 Liter, K-Class right fire extinguisher in place no farther than 30 feet from the hood system. In addition, there must be one fire pull for each hood system you have in your facility, and they must be located at a designated exit,” says Scott Camps, ESC’s Lead Fire Suppression Technician. “And if you have any dry chemical fire extinguishers lurking about, they must not be positioned any closer than 30 feet from your fire suppression systems.”
To find out more about kitchen fire suppression systems, contact us at 614-754-1393. You also can send us an email at [email protected], or use our handy contact form below:
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