Fire Prevention for Restaurants

According to Hartford Insurance, 59% of all restaurant building fires are caused by cooking.  The presence of deep fat fryers increases this likelihood by 9%.  The best procedures to prevent or decrease the severity of such a fire is actually part of the underwriting information we provide to your insurance carrier in order to write your policy.  Most insurance carriers require:

• All cooking equipment with vent hoods;
• All ducts equipped with a UL300 automatic extinguishing system (Nov. 1994 standards);
• All deep fat fryers with automatic fuel shutoff to stop oil from exceeding 475; and
• Have automatic extinguishing systems inspected semi-annually by a professional fire protection company.

In addition, you can decrease the severity of fires by:

• Calling fire department immediately.
• Keep a class K handheld fire extinguisher in the kitchen.  Using only if the fire is localized.
• Evacuate quickly and orderly.
• Clean vent hoods and filters daily or weekly as a minimum.  Be sure that cleaning used is recommended for the equipment so that additional residue is not left on the hood or filters.
• Have vent hoods, filters and ducts professionally cleaned at least once every three months to avoid grease accumulation.
• Properly maintaining automatic extinguishing systems per company instructions.
• Do not use oil of improper types or amounts.
• Make sure deep fat fryers are placed at least 16 inches from any open flames, or are separated by a steel or tempered glass baffle.