Restaurant Hood Grease Containment Tips for Safety and Fire Prevention
Restaurant hood grease is your enemy. The quickest way to shut down a restaurant is to ignore your kitchen grease containment system, from grill hood to rooftop fan. A fire can happen at any point in the system because cooking fats, greases and oils are so flammable and pack a lot of energy. FEMA estimates that almost 60 percent of restaurant fires are often caused by fat fryers, and there are almost 6000 restaurant fies in the US each year!
As reported in a great report by Phillip Ackland Holdings, restaurant hood grease vapor accumulation is one of the most serious hazards to a commercial cooking area. Proper management of this hazard, a very achievable task, would greatly reduce the risk of more serious fires. During cooking, oils and fats change from a solid or semi-solid state into a liquid form. They then atomize and form grease laden vapors, or drain off in the form of altered oils. These grease vapors contain water molecules in the form of steam, mixed with evaporated fats and oils. Particles of this mixture are called aerosols. These aerosols are carried from the cooking surface into the hood by the negative pressure created by the ventilation system and thermal currents created by cooking appliances. This generates a plume or rising cloud of grease and smoke.
The higher the cooking surface temperature becomes, the more grease is transformed into a vapor state. As this vapor cools, it condenses or returns to a solid state (although chemically altered). This grease residue (altered oils) is combustible. Its ignition temperatures are slightly below the average ignition temperature of the original cooking oil. So, instead of exhausting the grease hazard, the exhaust system actually becomes a fire hazard.
One of the primary causes of fire - extinguishing system malfunction is restaurant hood grease buildup. Even if the fire extinguishing system is installed correctly, it will not function properly if there is sufficient grease buildup. These systems must function under severe circumstances. The following pictures are examples of the grease load that these systems can accumulate if not properly maintained. The kitchen staff must keep an eye on the restaurant hood grease buildup on the fire extinguishing system; if it is impacted the service company needs to be called.
In normal commercial cooking operations, the exhaust fan draws room air cooking appliance combustion effluent and cooking appliances produced grease laden vapors through the filters and into the hood and duct. This grease vapor condenses with the resultant residue deposits being deposited on the exposed surfaces throughout the system. An appliance malfunction or human error creates sustained flare-ups. The impinging heat (flames) can have sufficient energy to ignite the grease residues on the filters and hood.
Clean Your Ducts of Restaurant Hood Grease
Cleaning your restaurant hood duct and HVAC system frequently is expensive - but crucial. How often you should clean is dependent upon the type of fuels and fats you are using, and the amount your kitchen is used. There isn't a golden number for frequency, but more often is always better. A ounce of prevention...
Make It Easy - Install Hood and Duct Access Panels
How do you know just how much residue is building up in your restaurant hood ventilation system, resulting in a literal time-bomb? The best bang for buck way to facilitate easy inspection is installing hood access panels or duct access doors. You want to install more than you think you need, and especially at bends in the system where air will change speed/pressure and leave more residue.
Keep your Fans Maintained
An under performing or under powered or dirty rooftop fan can affect the amount of flammable cooking gases that accumulate in your restaurant hood ventilation system. Start with excellent quality fans. Then, make them easy to maintain by installing a fan-hinge system. Then, make sure they get inspected frequently. The cost of these best-practices items is a lot less than a fire that will shut down your restaurant for weeks or months - or forever.
Restaurant Hood Grease Containment Failures - In the News
Buffalo Wild Wings Kitchen Grease Fire
BEL AIR, MD. — A grease fire caused about $50,000 in damage to the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in Bel Air Sunday afternoon, according to the state fire marshal's office.
Restaurant Hood Grease Fire at Burger King
HIGHLAND, IN | The Highland Fire Department was able to quickly take care of a fire at the Burger King in the Highland Grove shopping center Monday.
SAVANNAH, GA - Taco Bell Temporarily Closed Due to Grease Fire
Fire officials said it was a small fire and the restaurant is just waiting for a replacement fryer that caused the fire. A few menu items won't be available until it arrives.
Peoria, AZ - Applebee's evacuated after kitchen catches fire
An Applebee's restaurant was evacuated during the Saturday lunch rush after a grease fire started in the kitchen, according to the Peoria Fire Department.
Kitchen Grease fire destroys 4 South Loop businesses in Chicago
Grease may be to blame for starting a raging fire that destroyed three restaurants and a cell phone store in the South Loop on Wednesday. It took firefighters more than eight hours to totally extinguish the flames and hot spots.
Corpus Christi, TX - Kitchen Grease Fire Shuts Down Chinese Resaurant
A grease fire shut down the China Bear restaurant in Annaville and also forced the evacuation of a neighboring business. Firefighters say the restaurant will likely remain closed until a health inspector can take a look at the damage. It's unclear how long that will take.
Southport, NY - Kitchen Grease Fire Shuts Down Homestead Inn
A Southport restaurant is closed temporarily after a late night fire Tuesday. A table-top deep fryer caught fire and spread into the range hood. They put out the grease fire with a fire extinguisher but there was a lot of smoke damage.
Girard Fire Department seeks to close restaurant for fire code violations
WARREN — Girard officials filed a complaint today in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court against the owners of Girard Wok restaurant, 44 W. Liberty St., seeking to shut down the restaurant until it corrects purported fire-code violations.
The lawsuit names as defendants the owners of the restaurant, Sue Zhang and Xin X. Zheng, and the Girard company D&G Properties of 52 W. Liberty St. The lawsuit says D&G Properties owns the property where the restaurant is located. The 52 W. Liberty St. address is that of Girard Hardware.
The suit says Steven Drake, a Girard firefighter and certified fire-safety inspector, inspected the restaurant Sept. 22 and wrote a report listing fire-code violations relating to grease accumulation in the ductwork and hood fans at the restaurant and failure to keep inspection, maintenance and testing records for the fire-protection system, the lawsuit said.
Restaurant Hood Grease Fire Closes Jack in the Box
The Desloge Fire Department and several other departments were called to a first alarm commercial fire at Jack in the Box in Desloge just before 10:20 a.m. Sunday.
Upon arrival, dispatch notified emergency crews that it was a grease fire and that all employees and customers had been evacuated.
"We had two of our own pumpers on the scene," said Larry Gremminger, Desloge fire chief. "The automatic suppression system had activated the automatic alarm over the fryer that was affected."
"There was no smoke visible from the exterior. There was some grease smoke and chemical agent from the extinguishers inside the restaurant. It wasn’t a tremendous amount of smoke."
The store was immediately closed for business but was to reopen after proper inspection and cleaning.
Restaurant Hood Grease Fire Closes Red Robin
A Fire at Red Robin located at 2440 E. Springs Drive broke out on December 3, 2014.
TThe restaurant fie was apparently the result of a build up of grease in the kitchen grill and hood and ventilation system.
The fire traveled up the ventilation system to the roof.
Substantial damage occured, resulting in the closure of the restaurant.
Kitchen fire closes Sonic in Palestine TX
A grease fire at the Sonic restaurant, 2727 South Loop 256, Palestine, TX, forced closure on December 4, 2014.
Restaurant Hood Grease Fire in Kitchen Closes Dairly Queen in Verona, VA
A grease fire in the kitchen of the Verona, VA Dairy Queen has forced closure on December 2, 2014.
Kitchen Grease Fire Caught by Sharp-eyed Police Officer
COVINGTON — A sharp-eyed police officer on routine patrol has been credited with helping to save a local business from what could have been a major fire.
Covington Police Department Officer Chad Payne had pulled into a business on U.S. Highway 278 around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday when he noticed smoke coming from the roof of Dairy Queen across the road.
Payne then drove over to the restaurant and looked inside the building, where he saw it was filling with smoke, the CPD reported.
He contacted radio dispatch, which notified the Covington Fire Department. Responding firefighters found a small fire underneath one of the fryer units in the kitchen, said Deputy Fire Chief Tony Smith.
"We were able to knock it down with an extinguisher, but unfortunately, by the time that happened, the building had filled with smoke," he said.
As a result, the business was closed Thursday and may not reopen until Saturday. Smith said that Environmental Health will evaluate the damage and determine what food products and other items will need to be discarded.
Smith said that it appeared the fire started as a result of grease that had built up on the fryer unit and got too close to the pilot light, which served as an ignition source.
Grease Fire Destroys Burger King in Lomira, WI
LOMIRA -- A fire that started in the restaurant's broiler hood tore through the restaurant, with crews from 11 different fire departments battling it but losing the battle.
The Lomira fire captain says the blaze sparked from a grease fire in the hood of a broiler at about 6 a.m. right before the morning rush.
Olive Garden Restaurant closed from Restaurant Hood Grease Fire
Grease Fire in Grocery Store Restaurant
Grease Fire Closes Chinese Restaurant
NAUGATUCK — The New China restaurant, 169 Church St., is closed after a Thursday morning grease fire.
The fire was cause by a build up of grease in the restaurant's hood and duct work that leads up into the roof.
Restaurant Hood Grease Fire in Houston TX Restaurant
HOUSTON - A restaurant in southeast Houston will have to make repairs after a late-night fire.
Houston fire officials said a burner on the stove was left on and caused a grease fire Monday night at the Original Timmy Chan restaurant on Scott Street.
Houston firefighters were able to get the fire under control in 20 minutes.
Repeated Fires due to Grease in Dirty Restaurant Hood Ducts
In 2001, a grease fire in some dirty ducts shut down his Olives eatery in Charlestown. In 2007, fire officials say it happened there again. In 2008, a grease fire in the exhaust duct at Figs, English's Beacon Hill pizzeria, forced that restaurant to close temporarily. And now Olives is closed again, after fire officials said another grease fire in the ducts there Thursday night caused an estimated $200,000 in damage.
McDonalds Gets a Visit from 12 Fire Fighters for Grease Fire
LAURINBURG — The dining room and kitchen of Laurinburg’s McDonald’s were evacuated during Monday’s lunch rush following a grease fire that filled the building and surrounding area with smoke.
According to Eric Strickland, engineer for Laurinburg Fire Department, the flames started in the kitchen’s vent system shortly after noon. By 12:30 p.m., 12 firefighters were on the scene and working to extinguish the blaze.
Big Restaurant Hood Grease Fire in Big Apple
The Famous Barbetta on West 46th suffered an HVAC fire that originated from the kitchen cook hood system. Over 100 fire fighters worked the blaze.
"There was grease in the exhaust system, and we have them regularly cleaned every two months, and they were just cleaned on October 21, and somehow the grease, some grease that was in there, shouldn't have been, I think, caught fire," Maioglio said.
For more information contact a representative at: 877-226-6824