Restaurant Oil Build-up Causes Raging Blaze on Ground Floor

October 26, 2023

A build up of fats and oils in a restaurant’s kitchen caught alight causing a fire to spread throughout the ground and second floor.

A build-up of fats and oil in a restaurant’s kitchen caught alight causing a fire to spread throughout the ground and second floor.

Six fire engines and around 40 firefighters tackled the blaze at a restaurant on Upper Richmond Road in Putney, yesterday afternoon.

The extraction system and the ground to the second floor of the building was destroyed by fire, according to London News Online.

An extraction system ventilates a kitchen by controlling airflow. The fire is believed to have been accidental and caused by a build-up of fats and oils in the extraction system catching fire.

Firefighters used one of the London Fire Brigades (LFB) 32-metre turntable ladders at the scene to get a better view of the scene. A LFB spokeswoman said:

“We’d like to remind restaurant and takeaway owners to ensure they don’t have dirty ducting. If you don’t clean the ducting in your extraction system regularly, you’re at a greater risk of ducting fires.”

Firefighters from Twickenham, Chelsea, Chiswick, Fulham, Wandsworth and Hammersmith fire stations attended the scene.

How can owner/operators minimize their fire risk between cleans?

This has been a long-term problem faced in commercial kitchens since day dot as metal kitchen grease filters only intercept between 20-40% of the grease from getting into the rest of the system. Since 2016, Shepherd Filters has been working with businesses large and small around the globe to:

Shepherd Filters work three times harder than conventional metal filters, to stop up to 98% or grease from contaminating your hood. This equates to a cleaner system all year round, reducing your filter and duct cleaning costs by over 80%!

Contact us to see if the Shepherd Filters solution is right for your business too!

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