Blog

Recent news items highlights the importance of proper exhaust system cleaning protocols

Last November, a fire broke out around the exhaust duct in the kitchen of Pizzeria Toro in Durham NC, causing significant damage to the building. The pizzeria and two neighboring businesses were forced to close, and the three apartments located above the restaurant were also rendered uninhabitable. One of the upstairs tenants has filed a lawsuit against the pizzeria and the company hired to clean its kitchen exhaust system, seeking punitive damages against both companies as well as compensation for emotional distress related to the fire.

The tenant claims that both Pizzeria Toro and the cleaning company, Exhaust Clean, were negligent in their performance of the tasks required to ensure that the kitchen exhaust system was free of fire hazards. However, at a cleaning three weeks before the fire, Exhaust Clean notified Pizzeria Toro that some areas of the exhaust system were inaccessible and therefore impossible to clean. The pizzeria declined to act on this advice, which seems to place responsibility for the resulting fire squarely on the restaurant.

Pizzeria Toro should have known better than to ignore the advice of their exhaust system cleaning company. After all, the pizzeria had already suffered a minor fire in April. This fire, which was in the kitchen ventilation duct, was quickly extinguished and caused little damage, but it still should have served to open the restaurant owner’s eyes to the need for more thorough and frequent cleaning.

This story serves to highlight two important facts about kitchen exhaust system cleaning, namely that it is vital to hire a reputable company and to follow that company’s advice promptly.

Many kitchen exhaust system cleaning companies focus only on cleaning the visible parts of the exhaust system, which provides an eye-pleasing result while leaving hidden dangers lurking deep within the exhaust system. Flue Steam, however, provides truly comprehensive kitchen exhaust system cleanings using steam cleaning equipment that can reach to places where hand scraping tools cannot.

Flue Steam can also assist with the creation of additional access points to facilitate total cleaning of the kitchen exhaust system. This offers our clients a tremendous advantage, because if we identify an inaccessible area we can also offer a solution, rather than leaving restaurant owners at a loss for how to proceed, as perhaps happened in the case of Pizzeria Toro. Any access panels we install are guaranteed to be in compliance with relevant safety standards and will not compromise the integrity of your duct work.

If you’d like to learn more about how Flue Steam can help prevent a dangerous fire—and perhaps a lawsuit—from affecting your restaurant, please contact us any time.

Make sure your duct access panels can facilitate cleaning without compromising duct integrity

Kitchen exhaust ducts have many important functions to perform. First of all, they must effectively carry hot, smelly, greasy air out of the kitchen and the building. Secondly, in the event of a grease fire, they must be able to contain the fire and prevent other parts of the building from being consumed. Keeping your ducts clean is a very important part of ensuring their continued safe and proper operation, and this task requires expert assistance and properly placed kitchen exhaust duct access panels. Flue Steam can help on both counts.

Do You Have Enough Access Points?

While grease builds up fastest on your kitchen exhaust hood, grease can also slowly accumulate on every surface of the ductwork over time, making it very important to get a thorough exhaust system cleaning that reaches into all the areas you can’t see.

When your ducts were installed, they should have been equipped with various access panels to facilitate deep cleaning. Specifically, horizontal ducts should have at least one 20×20 inch opening so that maintenance personnel can crawl inside, or, failing this, they should have smaller access panels every 12 feet. Vertical ducts should have access panels on each floor.

If you do not have enough access points to clean your ducts properly, Flue Steam can install additional access panels for you.

Are Your Access Panels Code-Compliant?

In order to avoid compromising the integrity of your ductwork, access panels must be installed carefully and in compliance with all relevant code requirements. NFPA 96 sets forth the following requirements for duct access panels:

• Rated to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit
• Grease-tight
• Equipped with signage reading “Access Panel – Do Not Obstruct”

When you trust Flue Steam to install your additional access panels, you can rest assured they will meet the high standards necessary to protect your safety.

Is It Time for a Kitchen Exhaust Duct Cleaning?

Of course, access panels won’t do much good unless you actually use them for frequent and thorough cleaning. Flue Steam can provide this service. We offer a combination of hand scraping and steam cleaning techniques to remove dangerous grease deposits from the visible and hidden portions of your ductwork. As a bonus service, we will also inspect your exhaust fan at every cleaning visit to help ensure that it draws properly and keeps your ducts cleaner longer.

A kitchen fire can strike at any time, but an automatic fire suppression system can provide protection

Bradley’s Fern Park Restaurant in Muncy PA is closed on Mondays. But that didn’t stop a three-alarm blaze from destroying this eatery on Monday, February 17. Though the cause of the fire is unknown, neighbors on the scene did report that the heaviest part of the fire appeared to be coming from the kitchen.

The blaze was first noticed by a motorist who happened to see sparks flying off the roof of the restaurant while driving past on the Susquehanna Trail. Firefighters from three counties were called to the rural restaurant, where they began trucking water from a nearby pond into order to fight the flames. It took over an hour to extinguish the fire, which ripped through the first and second floors of the building. One firefighter was reportedly treated for an unspecified injury, perhaps as a result of his or her efforts.

The moral of the story here for owners of commercial kitchens is that a kitchen fire can occur at any time, even when the kitchen is not open. While we do not know what caused the fire in this case, if it did in fact originate in the kitchen it could perhaps have been prevented by an automatic fire suppression system, which would have kicked on when temperatures inside the kitchen exhaust hoods rose to unacceptable levels due to the fire.

Can You Count on Your Automatic Fire Suppression System?

A kitchen grease fire can happen fast, spreading deep into the exhaust system and potentially causing thousands of dollars in damages before your employees have time to react. That’s just one reason that a functioning automatic fire suppression system is so vital for any commercial kitchen. Another reason is that they are required by law in California.

Do you want to risk a fire in your business or a citation from the city just because you neglected your automatic fire suppression system? Of course not. That’s why you’re going to call Flue Steam to handle all your kitchen air control and fire prevention needs. We can provide all the necessary services for keeping your kitchen code-compliant and your workers and guests safe, including automatic fire suppression system installation, testing, resetting, and inspections. We can also provide and service hand held fire extinguishers as an additional line of defense for small fires. Call us today to learn more about our fire prevention services.

Get fast repairs for all your kitchen air control & fire suppression equipment

In order to operate your commercial kitchen safely, comfortably, and legally, you must have three vital systems in place: an exhaust fan, a swamp cooler or other ventilation source, and an automatic fire suppression system. When any one of these items requires repair or service, you need to get the job done fast to avoid shutting down your kitchen during business hours and missing out on revenue. Fortunately, Flue Steam can help. We offer reliable emergency service for all of your kitchen air control and fire suppression equipment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Just give us a call and we’ll come make sure your system is working properly and will meet your compliance requirements.

Exhaust Fan Service

The purpose of a kitchen exhaust fan is to draw hot, smoky, greasy air out of the kitchen. This not only makes the kitchen more comfortable for your staff, but also safer. Without a working exhaust fan, vaporized grease generated by cooking wouldn’t get sucked up and away from your cooking surfaces into grease filters where it can be safely trapped. Instead, it would accumulate on various surfaces and cause a fire hazard. If your exhaust fan isn’t working like it should, one of our skilled technicians can fix it. We can repair or replace fan motors, bearings, pulleys, belts, etc. for a lasting and reliable repair.

Brand Damage

Swamp coolers are an efficient source of cool, fresh air for many commercial kitchens. However, if your swamp cooler stops producing enough cooled air, you can end up with a hot, smoky kitchen that isn’t comfortable or safe to work in. At Flue Steam, our technicians are intimately familiar with all makes and models of commercial swamp coolers. We can troubleshoot your swamp cooler problem and provide a targeted and effective repair, whether that means replacing the float valve, pump, pads, belts, etc., or just cleaning and resealing the unit.

Automatic Fire Suppression System Service

An automatic fire suppression system is a very important safety device for any commercial kitchen. Obviously this piece of equipment won’t do you much good if it is not in excellent working condition. At Flue Steam, we can provide emergency service to reset and recharge your automatic fire suppression system after each activation, as required by law. Our fast response means you can get back to cooking—and making money—faster. Call us any time you need help and we’ll be on our way as quickly as possible.

The damage from kitchen grease fires goes far beyond fire damage

If you own or operate a commercial kitchen, you are no doubt familiar with the many tasks required to keep your exhaust system clean and reduce the risk of grease igniting within your exhaust hood or ductwork and causing a fire. But are you completing these fire-prevention tasks often enough? If you don’t keep up with exhaust system cleaning & maintenance, you may be putting your business at risk for serious consequences, including:

Property Damage

OSHA standards require that a fire extinguisher be present and easily accessible in every commercial kitchen. These extinguishers must be Class K, as this type of extinguisher is effective against grease fires.

Brand Damage

Commercial kitchens are also required to install and maintain an automatic fire suppression system. This system must have the ability to be triggered manually as well as automatically when temperatures inside the exhaust hood indicate the presence of fire. In addition, NFPA and California Fire Code  requires that the automatic fire suppression systems installed in commercial kitchens be UL300 Certified.

Lost Revenue

After almost any kitchen grease fire, you will need to close your kitchen. You may only need to shut down in order to reset the automatic fire suppression system, or you may need to close for weeks or months to repair the damage done by a major fire. Either way, you will be losing revenue every moment you are closed. Plus, damage to your brand image can also potentially change consumer behavior, causing reduced patronage and additional lost revenue.

Lawsuits

Though injuries are somewhat rare, about 75 people per year do get injured in commercial kitchen fires. If an injury occurs on your property during a fire, you may end up with a lawsuit on your hands. Either an employee or a customer could allege that you were negligent in your fire prevention activities and this caused them to suffer an injury. Depending on the extent of their injuries and suffering, you could be looking at a very expensive payout.

Don’t Risk It

Why risk a kitchen exhaust fire hurting your business? Exhaust hood scraping and duct steam cleaning are simple and effective fire prevention measures that you can easily take with help from Flue Steam.