Throughout Albuquerque and New Mexico restaurants, kitchen hood fire suppression systems provide protection against grease fires. Most restaurant grease fires start at the appliances such as stoves, griddles, char- broilers, fryers. These fires can quickly spread up into the exhaust system.. To maintain the safe operation of each of these pieces of kitchen equipment the fire suppression systems need to be inspected to see if it is operating properly and check to see if it is being maintained. Grime and grease from daily kitchen operations naturally start to build-up on kitchen fire hood suppression system components. If these accumulated substances on the fire suppression system are not kept clean, it will block the system’s spray nozzles which will keep them from releasing the wet chemicals the system releases when there is a stove, fryer, grill, or grease fire. It is critical that the kitchen fire hood suppression system parts be kept clean so it will work when needed.

With these safety and business operating facts in mind regarding kitchen fire hood suppression system maintenance, what schedule should you set up your kitchen suppression system for regular cleaning, inspection, and service and what should you do to keep in good working order?

• Become knowledgeable regarding fire code kitchen fire hood suppression system legally required regular inspections.
• Get your system and kitchen appliances ready for inspections.
• Thorough clean all your kitchen equipment including its kitchen fire hood suppression system.  

Maintaining your kitchen’s fire hood suppression system is important. What steps need to be followed for your system to always comply for inspections.

What should be the inspection schedule for your restaurant’s fire suppression system?

The NFPA 96 code (Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations) features a mandate that restaurants are required to have their kitchen hood fire suppression system inspected by licensed professional fire protection company every six months. That means every Albuquerque and New Mexico restaurant is required to verify through a series of test during a full inspection of your commercial kitchen fire suppression system that it will put out a fire and turn off the system’s gas line or electrical supply when a fire occurs.

New Mexico’s Mandatory Two Commercial Kitchen Hood Inspections Per Year 

Brazas Fire highly advises a monthly complete kitchen hood inspection by Albuquerque and New Mexico restaurant owners, store managers, or kitchen managers.  During the inspection items and specific things to visually to check are grease build-up, clogs, nozzle cap issues, the system’s extinguishing lines, plus any aspect of the system that looks out of place or wrong. The company also highly recommends all restaurants need to thoroughly clean all their kitchen equipment daily.  Doing so greatly reduce the risk of a kitchen fire and the damage and loss of revenue that a fire can cause.  Brazas Fire urges Albuquerque and New Mexico restaurants to be diligent about keeping their kitchen clean.  The hassle of expense of fire suppression system inspections services call is nothing compared to cost of on the huge kitchen fire, which on the average costs more than $60,000.

Here’s How You Get Your Kitchen Ready for a Kitchen Suppression System Inspections

When a kitchen suppression system inspection takes place the kitchen equipment cannot be in use and it must be cool to the touch. Set up your inspection during off hours and advise your kitchen staff of the date and time of impending inspection.  Advise all staff members that the fire alarm will be audible during the inspection. Have staff members call the fire alarm monitoring company and put the fire alarm system in test before servicing the kitchen hood fire suppression system. Staff members should have the fire alarm monitoring companies phone number, the account number, and the password on file.

Albuquerque Kitchen Hood Fire Suppression System Inspection – Here is the Scoop on What Happens

When your Albuquerque or New Mexico restaurant commercial kitchen fire hood inspection takes place, the technician will complete a full inspection and then they will fix any defective parts and repair any system operating problems after the inspection is completed.

Below is a checklist that our technicians will use during your inspection:

• Extinguishing nozzles are checked to see if they have material blocking it.
• New nozzle caps are installed.
• Extinguishing lines are tested by running air through them to see if there is anything blocking the continual flow of air.
• The system is checked by activating the manual pull station by pulling it.
• Correct PSI is check by inspecting the system’s pressure gauges.
• Tests are run on the system’s gas shut off valve and the microswitch.
• The system’s fans are checked to make sure they are running and working correctly.
• System fusible links are cut to check and see if the system turns on.
• New links installation with date stamp will be put in to give the fire marshal proof of inspection when they do their inspection.
• Verify the gas shuts off when the system is activated.
• Verify the systems electrical power connection shuts off when the system is activated.
• Submit your fire hood suppression system inspection certificate to the city of Albuquerque fire department or the local fire authority in your New Mexico city, town, or village.
• Apply a tag to your kitchen fire hood suppression system demonstrating your system has been inspected by a professional and passes fire code regulations.
• After each inspection, a Brazas Fire Commercial Cooking System Service and Inspection Report is given directly to the owner, manager, or kitchen manager at the location of the inspection. and it is sent to the fire department as well.

What should be your Albuquerque or New Mexico kitchen hood exhaust system cleaning schedule?

The question is asked quite a bit by fire safety companies like Brazas Fire, “What should my cleaning schedule be for my restaurant kitchen fire hood suppression system?”.

Kitchen staff should not be cleaning the fusible links in the plenum. This may result in an accidental discharge if they pull on the fusible link line or move it around too much. Have the kitchen hood exhaust system cleaned by a qualified contractor quarterly, semi-annually or annually depending on volume per NFPA-96. Between cleanings, the kitchen staff should pull down the grease filters and clean them weekly. Kitchen appliances should be cleaned daily