PLACENTIA AND LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - One Los Angeles fire protection company whose affiliate company performs commercial hood cleaning services is on a mission to dispel a common misperception about restaurant hood, duct and fan system cleaning services.

Maintaining a routine cleaning schedule should be viewed from a fire safety standpoint, not as a janitorial service, said Massoud Farazandeh, general manager of Nationwide Fire Protection Corp., a Los Angeles fire sprinkler system installer and an affiliate of American Professional Services (APS-Hoods).

“When a hood is professionally cleaned, it helps prevent costly damage by removing fire hazards from the area where most restaurant fires originate,” said Farazandeh, a Los Angeles fire suppression system expert.

Hood cleaning involves areas around fire suppression systems, as well. According to the National Fire Protection Association Code, hood cleaners should take care not to get any caustic chemicals inside the bracket where the fusible link is located. If grease begins to accumulate inside the pipe, Farazandeh recommends that the fire suppression system installer be called to replace the pipes or to clean them themselves.

Hood cleaners also take care to ensure that the red caps on fire suppression nozzles remain in place during and after cleaning. If they are left hanging off, grease will build up and clog the nozzles. In the event that the fire suppression system is activated, clogged nozzles could impede the system from extinguishing the fire.

Cleaning these systems requires more than combining soap, water and elbow grease, said the Los Angeles fire system expert. The grease that builds up in a kitchen presents a special fire hazard that must be removed with special chemicals and high-powered machinery used by trained professionals.

National Fire Protection Association Standard 96 outlines the minimum fire safety requirements related to the design, installation, operation, inspection and maintenance of all public and private commercial-grade cooking operations.
These requirements include grease removal devices; exhaust hoods, ductwork and fans; dampers, fire extinguishing equipment and components or systems involved in capturing, containing and controlling grease buildup.

“The provisions of this standard are key in providing a reasonable level of protection from loss of life and property from fire and explosion,” according to the International Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleaning Association website.

Regular maintenance of a restaurant’s kitchen exhaust system is an integral part of defending a kitchen against fire hazards, according to the IKEHCA website. Keeping your system working at its best means you exhaust smoke and grease from the building to provide a cleaner, cooler kitchen and better working environment for your staff.

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