Restaurant Fire Safety Tips From The Pro’s

There are over a million fires a year in the US alone. There is a mind boggingly high number of non-residential fires, and the leading cause in these fires is related to kitchens and cooking. So restaurants are at the highest risk of fire and fire damage by a wide margin.

Our specialty at All Florida Fires is keeping your restaurant safe from these fire-related problems. Make use of these tips to success and free yourself from worry!

1. Fire Extinguishers

Fire extinguishers are your first line of defense against fire damage in your restaurant. Keep several of them around, and keep them well maintained.

2. Smoke Detectors

Have them, listen to them, and make sure to change the batteries on a regular basis to keep them in working order.

3. Emergency exit lighting

These run on batteries and separate systems than your main lighting will, so when the overhead lights go out your guests aren’t stuck in the dark if the worst case scenario does happen.

These are really simple tips that make a huge difference in how safe any building is, not just your restaurant. However, considering how much of a risk restaurants are at for fire hazards, there is more that you can do to keep your spaces safe.

4. Professional Hood Cleanings

The vent hood is a crucial piece of equipment for your kitchen, but it’s also one of the biggest causes of fire in the restaurant industry. As it sucks all the smoke and moisture out of the air, it’s also sucking up grease. One good flare-up from a stove and all the grease in all the filters has the possibility of burning up all at once. Burning the restaurant down before you can make any progress in quelling the flames.

Having a professional company come in and clean out the filters and degrease the vent hood on a regular basis can effectively remove the fire hazards that a vent hood places on a restaurant.

5. Install a fire suppression system

Fire suppression systems go above and beyond what the average group of cooks can do on their own to keep a fire down. All Florida Fire installs and supports a large number of these systems, all of which can prevent a damaging fire.

Each system has its own pros and cons, so it’s important to do your research and ask all the important questions from the professionals.

6. Maintain your fire suppression equipment

Regular inspections and maintenance checks on your extinguisher, sprinklers, and fire suppression systems can catch problems and potential failures before you need them to be working. The absolute worst time to discover your extinguisher has a problem is when you’re staring down a steadily growing grease fire.

There are national, state, and even local codes and ordinances to guide how frequently these inspections need to happen, and it’s important to follow them. Getting your extinguisher fully serviced (including a recharge) can be done with the help of All Florida Fire. We’re NFPA10 certified and well informed on Florida codes.

There’s one more thing you can do to help minimize the fire risk to your restaurant, our #7 and final fire safety tip is just this:

7. Be Vigilant

People underestimate how much just being aware of your surroundings and using your common sense will help with keeping your space safe. Keep an eye out on your electrical outlets, if they’re cracked or look black, get an electrician in to check it out. Make sure that there aren’t lose combustibles floating around in areas that deal with electricity or the oven. Above all else, common sense keeps you safe.

All Florida fire is the leader in fire prevention services in Florida. We’re a family business with family ideals and care deeply about keeping our friends and neighbors safe. We’ve been serving our communities for over 25 years now and have no plans to stop soon. If you need superior fire protection be sure to contact us today!