Written by NFP November 28, 2021

The livelihood of a restaurant depends on the kitchen. Chefs prepare a variety of tasty food in the kitchen to please guests. Since the kitchen serves as the backbone of your food service business, it is your duty to keep the environment inside it safe and healthy for the staff. In a commercial kitchen, a large amount of heat is produced on a daily basis. This creates a potential risk of a fire breakout, particularly the fire spreads due to deposits of grease and oily fat in the exhaust hood. A grease fire is dangerous, as it cannot be extinguished with water. Adding water to a grease fire doesn’t help. Instead, this further spreads the fire and compromises the safety of the employees as well as the guests who frequent your restaurant.

That is exactly why you need to properly outfit your commercial restaurant hood system with an ideal fire suppression system.

What Restaurant Hoods Do

Exhaust hoods are an essential component to be installed in a large restaurant or commercial kitchen. Due to a large volume of cooking, lots of smoke and steam vapor are produced in the kitchen. The function of the exhaust hoods is to remove the hot and smoky air and replace it with fresh air from outside to maintain air quality for the working comfort of the kitchen staff.

Not just for the kitchen staff, but a healthy and safe environment is also needed to make the restaurant guests feel at home. It is also mandatory to install exhaust hoods to stay compliant with safety codes.

Exhaust hoods for restaurants come in multiple designs and styles. If you plan to set up a new food facility or outfit your food establishment in operation with an exhaust hood system, you will require the expert help of professional hood builders such as Nationwide Fire Protection. Based in Denver, Colorado, we specialize in the design, installation, and maintenance of a broad range of restaurant hoods from well-known and reputed brands. Investing in high quality exhaust hoods translates to comfort, safety, and reliability for the long term.

Why You Need Hood Fire Protection

Due to the specific task they perform, the kitchen hoods also gather lots of grease residue in them over time. Hoods with grease deposits are a potential fire hazard. Not only that, greasy hoods also deteriorate the air quality inside the kitchen, affecting the health of staff and food quality.

Kitchen fires are one of the most dangerous. If not contained in the initial stage, these fire breakouts can spread very swiftly and cause a lot of damage to both property and lives. Therefore, every large restaurant and commercial kitchen must be fitted with a fire suppression system. Once you have a fire protection system in place, you will be able to keep fires under control. The system is so efficient that it helps you put out a fire before it takes a bad shape without creating the urgent need to halt the entire operation in the commercial kitchen. 

Not just in large restaurants, but hood fire suppression systems remain installed in hotels, dining facilities, food preparation centers, catering facilities, cafeterias and other commercial cooking establishments. 

Basic Features of a Hood Fire Suppression System

Many brands manufacture fire suppression systems for kitchen exhaust hoods. Though each brand has its own uniqueness, the basic features of all hood fire suppression systems remain the same.

All systems follow one common principle: They usually attach to the exhaust hoods and the gas line which serves the range. Based on the type of system you install, it can use wet chemicals, gas, or foam agents to extinguish the fire. As soon as the fire suppression system detects a flame or enormous heat, it gets activated and cuts off the supply of gas to the stove at first and then releases the extinguishing agent to contain the fire immediately. The wet chemical agent is discharged through the nozzles, which are built into the kitchen exhaust hoods.

The fire suppressant that the system releases are highly effective at putting out fires, grease fires in particular. The system also prevents the reignition of fire so as to provide increased safety in the facility. Most of these systems have automatic activation features, but they also come along with a manual pull station, which can be activated by the staff as per urgent need.

Where to Find the Ideal Fire Suppression System

The selection and design of a hood fire suppression system are done on the basis of the size and appliance arrangement in a food facility. Since there are various types of these systems, you will need to find the most ideal size of a fire suppression system for the exhaust hoods in your kitchen.

To find the right product, you should first have a consultation with fire protection system professionals who have worked with commercial restaurants for several years. Whether you are setting up a new kitchen or remodeling an existing kitchen, professionals will be able to properly evaluate your specific needs and then suggest and custom-design the most ideal system for your facility. Only experts know how to correctly incorporate a fire suppression system into your kitchen.

Talk to a Hood System Specialist

To minimize potential fire damage, you should always invest in the best and most ideal hood fire suppression system. At Nationwide Fire Protection, we have a highly trained team of hood system specialists who will help you design a system that is a perfect match for your food facility. 

We are not just one of the most trusted dealers of fire suppression systems in Denver, Colorado, but we also provide expert installation, repair, and maintenance of these systems for smooth operation. Our professionals will carry out the entire process of installation with great precision while abiding by the local building codes as well as fire safety codes for commercial kitchens. Our products feature the most innovative design for ease of use and maximum protection against grease fire. Moreover, we offer these products at competitive prices.

For your free consultation, you can reach out to our office via a phone call or send us an email using the contact form on our website.