If exhaust ducts are dirty, even a simple flambé can start a fire that literally brings the house down …
Restaurant:
Fire Prevention
Exhaust System Cleaning
Kitchens are fire traps. Ovens … fry pans … woks … deep fryers … griddles … broilers … these all emit greasy vapors that grip to surfaces inside – and to some degree outside – the exhaust system.
Your exhaust system cleaning is absolutely essential for public safety, not to mention compliance with insurance regulations.
How Often Should You Clean?
The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) requires exhaust cleaning at least four times a year, to reduce the chances of grease fires:
- Every month if you use solid fuels like wood or charcoal
- Quarterly or more if you operate at a high volume, and/or do a lot of open frying, charbroiling, or wok-cooking
Exceptions:
- Every six months if you operate at a low volume
- Once a year for extra-low-volume cooking operations like day camps, seasonal businesses or churches.
DO NOT Play With Fire …
A quick web search will turn up dozens – hundreds – of reports about restaurants destroyed by kitchen fires. Often that’s because of poor cleaning.
You don’t just lose your equipment. You can lose the whole building. Plus risk having your insurance claim denied, and face liability and lawsuits.
The NFPA goes on to say: The entire exhaust system shall be cleaned by a properly trained and qualified company or persons.
Note: Trained. Qualified..
Too many cleaners are basically a one-man or two-man show that have neither the specialized equipment nor the expertise to do the job the NFPA demands.
Because look: if your hood and exhaust ducts still hold leftover grease after cleaning, and there’s a flare, that fire can be sucked through the system to the roof in a flash. Literally. It spreads fast and burns hot. Like 1400 degrees hot. So there goes the roof. And there goes your livelihood.
Duct Cleaning is Dangerous Work
It’s quick and easy to clean grime from the visible portions of the hood, but to leave uncleaned – accidentally or through laziness – the parts you can not see: the ducts and fan.
And that’s nowhere near good enough.
The entire exhaust system – hood, ducts, exhaust fan – must be cleaned down to bare metal. With zero greasy residue left behind.
A serious cleaning company like HSI will get to the places you can’t see just as efficiently as the places you can.
So we work with harsh chemicals. We work around electricity, and heat. Often, we work on high ladders.
It’s dangerous. It’s not a job for amateurs, or two guys with a ladder and some Brillo® pads.
HSI Works With You …
HSI is:
• A+ Rated with BBB
• Certified
• Bonded
• Insured
• Expertly trained
• Experienced
• Decently priced
• Well known and highly regarded
Do it now …
Here’s the NFPA again: Hoods, grease removal devices, fans, ducts, and other appurtenances shall be cleaned to remove combustible contaminants PRIOR TO surfaces becoming heavily contaminated with grease or oily sludge.
If you like, we’ll show up long before you open or right after you close, so you won’t lose a minute of down time. Or the money that goes with it.
Call HSI for 602-569-2100 for a visit.