Some devastating fires have occurred in commercial cooking establishments.  We all know the history of fast food restaurant fires and the toll they can have on a fire department if the fire is not found early.

Kitchen suppression systems are designed to activate to limit the effects of a grease fire in these establishments. It is important to note that when these fires occur and the system is activated, the return air should shut off and the hood vent should activate if it is not already on.

When these systems are designed they are equipment specific. Meaning that the flow points are determined by the type of cooking appliance and its location under the hood and suppression system. Moving or replacing any appliance requires reevaluation of the system and could mean an alteration to keep the system adequate.

As you can see in the picture, the appliance shown has wheels.  This could create a problem in the future when the ownership wants to move things around a bit and could be detrimental to the effectiveness of the system. One suggestion is to adopt a local ordinance that requires these wheels to be removed or locked. I have seen it both ways and it is up to your jurisdiction on how to do that.

Secondly, you want to ensure that the suppression system is hooked into a monitored fire alarm system or on a direct dial alarm system.  We, the fire department, want to know if this system activates.  Even if the system puts the fire out, there is a possibility of fire being pulled into the vent duct. If there are any penetrations or gaps in that duct, fire could smolder above for a long time or it could be burning the uncleaned grease.  We also want to make sure that if that system activates it gets put back in service appropriately and prior to cooking commencing again.

In the video it shows a "dump" test where we make sure that the correct amount of product is being flowed and that all utilities are shut off with the activation.