In November 1994, standards were raised for fire systems when new burners were introduced to cook oils at a higher heat. Even though these requirements were put into effect, many restaurants have not yet upgraded their fire protection systems.
Today restaurants need to upgrade to a UL300 fire suppression system in Los Angeles. This is now the law and for good reason. These systems do not cause a fallout effect in the restaurant since they only discharge onto equipment that has been protected. If it does need to be used, the cleanup is a lot easier.
Dry chemical protection is no longer offered by manufacturers these days for restaurants. If you have one of these systems still in place, you aren’t going to be able to purchase replacement parts for it. Also, most distributors for a fire extinguishing system in Los Angeles will not touch these old systems for repairs. If they should happen to fail during a fire the distributor may be held responsible for the damage.
When these new fryers hit the market, the new UL 300 systems were introduced to handle fires that can be caused by the heat of these fryers. Since the newer fryers are well insulated, it takes longer for the cooking oils to cool down. While they are taking their time to cool, they are still above the auto-ignition heat point. Only the UL 300 system has been able to pass the new standards put in place for testing.
If you are running a restaurant it is your responsibility to keep it protected against fire in the best way possible. Today, you’ll need the UL300 fire suppression system to meet safety standards. This is something that you simply cannot afford to put off.
If your restaurant does need upgraded fire protection you’ll need to make sure that you have this system in place. Otherwise, you may end up losing your business by having to shut it down to handle both water and fire damage. Plus you could lose your business license. Now is the time to put safety first and find a way to get your old system upgraded immediately.