What many restaurant goers may not realize is how quickly and easily a restaurant can become a fire hazard. Think about it: you’re dealing with hot surfaces, open flames in some cases, with plenty of flammable materials and substances within reach. And a restaurant’s kitchen can be in use for 10 or more hours a day, seven days a week. Put it all together, and you have all the makings of a destructive fire, as one South Carolina establishment learned the hard way recently:
A fire at a Mount Pleasant fast-food restaurant forced employees to evacuate Friday morning, but no one was hurt.
Awendaw-McClellanville firefighters say they quickly were able to put out a grease fire inside the Sonic at U.S. 17 and Hwy. 41 around 9:30 a.m.
Firefighters say the fire was isolated to the grease trap inside the kitchen. A photo provided by the firefighters shows the restaurant still filled with smoke after the fire was extinguished. (emphasis added)
A restaurant kitchen is going to produce a fair amount of oils and grease. That would go double for a place like Sonic, which specializes in hamburgers. Fortunately, it sounds like they did a pretty good job of keeping their exhaust system cleaned – if not, the fire could have spread rapidly upwards, into the ductwork and grease fan. At that point, the structure – and the workers inside – could have been in serious harm.
If you own a restaurant, protect yourself and your investment. We’ll work around your schedule, and we’ll provide proof of our work. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.