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Fire Protection for Small Commercial Kitchens

If you own a small restaurant with only one convection oven, deep fryer, griddle, broiler or other cooking appliance, you may think that comprehensive fire protection system is less of a concern. However, even in a kitchen this small, you still deal with multiple fire hazards: heat sources, flammable oils and grease, and gas lines. That’s why you need proper fire extinguishing and suppression methods in place to protect your employees, guests, and equipment, no matter the size of your commercial kitchen.

Types of Commercial Kitchen Fire Suppression Systems

You understand the importance of protecting your business from a fire started in the kitchen, but what type of extinguishing system is best? We recommend discussing your fire protection measures with a licensed fire protection contractor in your area. Kauffman Co. has been providing complete fire protection services in the Houston area since 2006.

When you meet with your fire protection technician, consider these options and their preferred applications:

  • Fire suppression systems: Fire suppression systems are especially effective at putting out kitchen fires because they separate flammable liquids, such as grease and oil, from the oxygen in the air, thus suppressing the fire quickly and effectively.
  • Class K fire extinguishers: You can achieve automatic or manual protection against grease and oil fires with Class K fire extinguishers. It’s a common choice in commercial kitchens where water, foam, or dry chemicals could damage sensitive equipment and also cause a grease fire to grow.
  • Wet-chemical extinguishing systems: This is a common automatic fire suppression method for commercial kitchens of all sizes. Your kitchen must follow certain provisions for nozzle placement, spacing, and height from the fire threat area. Pre-engineered systems have predetermined flow rates, nozzle pressures and quantities of extinguishing agent while engineered systems are designed for individual kitchens.
  • Other fire protection measures: Outside of your small commercial kitchen, you will also need adequate and required fire protection systems, including sprinkler systems, alarm systems, extinguishers, and more.

Maintaining You Commercial Kitchen Fire Suppression System

Once you have the ideal system installed in your commercial kitchen, it’s important to seek out regular inspection, maintenance, and testing of all components. Without these precautionary measures, something within the fire suppression system could malfunction without your knowledge, leaving your restaurant vulnerable to a destructive fire.

If you require kitchen fire suppression system installation, inspection, testing, repair or replacement, please contact Kauffman Co. We offer quality services across the Houston area. Call us today at (713) 893-1090.

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