At least 50% of all restaurant fires start due to cooking equipment. Though the root may be the equipment, the reason differs from case to case. Some cases had malfunctioning cooking equipment while some had equipment that function flawlessly be incorrectly used by the staff.
The best way to protect your assets if you’re a restaurant owner is to install a kitchen hood fire suppression system. By contacting experts to install this system for you, you will be able to protect your kitchen equipment as well as the personnel that will use them on a regular basis.
Putting the Fire Out at the Source
What makes this particular type of suppression system effective is it puts out the fire where it’s detected. If the system detects that there’s a fire being emitted where it shouldn’t be or at a level that it shouldn’t reach, the combination of heat, fuel, and oxygen will be considered before attempting to put out the fire.
The above approach only works because the suppression system is integrated into the appliance itself. This means that there’s no need for extensive modification of the facilities only to install the fire suppression system above the equipment. It will actually be a part of the equipment.
Suffocating the Fire
As stated above, a fire only survives because of the heat being produced along with the fuel and oxygen available for it to thrive. The suppression system will have a trigger to turn off the fuel from being released so you’re left with heat and oxygen.
To suffocate the fire, the suppression system will blanket the fire with chemical extinguishers. Even if there’s oxygen in the kitchen, the chemical will make it virtually impossible for the fire to take advantage of the oxygen leaving it continuously reducing in heat. As this continues, the fire will essentially be suffocated and put out.
Less Reliance on Manual Intervention
While the fire department will definitely still have to be called, there will be less dependence on the personnel on-site to intervene with the fire problem. You will still be legally obligated to have fire extinguishers which the employees can use to help clear their path toward an exit, however, the kitchen hood fire suppression system will carry most of the load in putting out the fire from the source.
Isolating the Cause of the Fire
Other entities such as insurance companies will require that you fill out the necessary paperwork with the specific cause of the fire. Little investigation will be required if the kitchen hood fire suppression system triggered correctly because you will know which appliance was the source of the fire.
During the incident itself, you can rest assured that your assets will be kept safe. As long as you have your kitchen hood system inspected two times every year, you will know that you will have no issues with its effectiveness. All of the bearings will be checked along with its integration to ensure that fail-safes are maintained correctly.
A kitchen hood fire suppression system can save precious business equipment and the lives of your personnel. Contact us today at Westminster Fire and let’s discuss your needs.