The fire dangers found at this restaurant are exactly why we have ANSI standards for grease exhaust systems. The issues run the gamut with no clearance to combustibles, thin round non-insulated galvanized heating duct being used for grease duct that is screwed together laying on wood joists above a permanent ceiling, no access into most of the system, plastic used to cover the penetration through the outside wall for the sidewall fan, cardboard boxes being used to prop up duct, ductwork running through the only exit point for the residences above, over 20 years of buildup throughout the system, The fryer backed against a sheetrock wall with no insulation or protection from fire, filter left out of hood as it cannot pull the smoke out with all grease filters in place, no clearance to combustibles where the fan is mounted outside the stairwell, no grease containment at the fan exit point, no filtered make up air, and an undersized fan. This location is in a multi use building with residential units located about the restaurant. If there was a fire in this system, it would be a disaster. The owners said they were quoted over $50,000 to make the proper upgrades that they cannot afford. They also said the local AHJ told them that the system is "Grandfathered in" and the upgrades do not have to be made. Although this is in a medium sized town and outside a metropolitan area, the inspectors need to understand the extreme dangers of leaving this system as is. This is a perfect example of a catch 22 where the upgrades needed would bankrupt a very good restaurant and local institution. This should have been dealt with years ago or at least a plan of action needs to be taken to bring this system up to code. Particularly since it involves residential units in the same building. I would bet the people renting out the apartments are not aware of the danger they are in.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Grandfathered in?? What happens when there is a fire here?
The fire dangers found at this restaurant are exactly why we have ANSI standards for grease exhaust systems. The issues run the gamut with no clearance to combustibles, thin round non-insulated galvanized heating duct being used for grease duct that is screwed together laying on wood joists above a permanent ceiling, no access into most of the system, plastic used to cover the penetration through the outside wall for the sidewall fan, cardboard boxes being used to prop up duct, ductwork running through the only exit point for the residences above, over 20 years of buildup throughout the system, The fryer backed against a sheetrock wall with no insulation or protection from fire, filter left out of hood as it cannot pull the smoke out with all grease filters in place, no clearance to combustibles where the fan is mounted outside the stairwell, no grease containment at the fan exit point, no filtered make up air, and an undersized fan. This location is in a multi use building with residential units located about the restaurant. If there was a fire in this system, it would be a disaster. The owners said they were quoted over $50,000 to make the proper upgrades that they cannot afford. They also said the local AHJ told them that the system is "Grandfathered in" and the upgrades do not have to be made. Although this is in a medium sized town and outside a metropolitan area, the inspectors need to understand the extreme dangers of leaving this system as is. This is a perfect example of a catch 22 where the upgrades needed would bankrupt a very good restaurant and local institution. This should have been dealt with years ago or at least a plan of action needs to be taken to bring this system up to code. Particularly since it involves residential units in the same building. I would bet the people renting out the apartments are not aware of the danger they are in.
My long term goals for IKECA
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Pledge all cleaning companies should sign. 8 KEC companies already have
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Contract Language to include
1. Chemicals used should be non-toxic and non-flammable. No Butyl Cellosolve or related solvents allowed!!
2. Protect and cover all kitchen equipment. A funnel should be made around the hood to trap the waste and debris for proper disposal.
3. Steam clean/ hot power wash and polish the entire hood both inside and outside.
4. Open fan housing, clean the entire housing inside and out, fan blades both sides and assembly, and the grease drip catch. The inside of the motor housing is not included in this contract and should be protected during the cleaning process.
5. Scrape, degrease, and steam clean/pressure wash the interior of the ductwork down to bare metal. (Residual build-up remaining after the initial cleaning is to be scraped and re-steam cleaned where needed.)
6. Remove all debris and or grease associated with the exhaust cleaning process from the roof.
7. Remove any debris, grease, dirt, etc. generated by the exhaust cleaning process from the parking or landscaped areas.
8. All services must comply with the most current National Fire Protection Code 96 and IKECA C10 standards. It also must comply to attached ___________ Specification Sheet. Inaccessible areas must be made accessible and all areas are to be cleaned.
10. All access panels must be closed, sealed or bolted with all the required bolts, screws and any required fire proof sealant/gasket. The insulation must be re-wrapped and secured to its original condition.
11 Any costs associated with having to have the system or other considered related areas cleaned up by others as a result of not being cleaned as specified will be the contractors responsibility if said contractor is either unwilling or unable to clean as required.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
9 stores closed after Mall Grease exhaust Fire

9 Ala Moana stores remain closed after fire. HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -Nine stores and restaurants at Ala Moana shopping center are still closed because of yesterday's fire. On Thursday a fire forced the evacuation of the Ala Moana food court. HFD says the fire started at the Panda Express Kitchen and spread into the mall food court trunk line grease duct system. Firefighters are looking into whether the restaurant and Mall management followed the proper cleaning schedule for the duct.An unattended wok containing oil sparked the blaze.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Why have on the job inspections of KEC(Kitchen Exhaust Cleanings)?
One of the communities in the midwest once had one of the top KEC inspection programs in the state only a few years ago. They eliminated the permit program and the on site inspection of the cleanings. At its height, all systems were cleaned to NFPA96 standards with no inaccessible areas and they had one of the best track records in the country. Now, only a few years later, there are vast areas not getting cleaned as the KEC vendors now are all trying to beat each other on pricing and are now skipping areas to reduce costs now that no one is looking any more. Most of the restaurants have no ideas that this is going on or maybe are simply accepting the risk similar to what the companies using National KEC vendors are doing. If one ever wondered if a program works and how fast things go downhill without someone watching, the picture here are proof of what the reality that even some of the companies that were passing inspection previously are now skipping almost everything past what can be seen from the hood. All of these picture are from the same city, different restaurants.
IKECA Meetings and fire inspections
Good to see everyone at the Milwaukee Technical Meetings. We have 40 Code officials (AHJ's) from Milwaukee, Madison, MN, and Canada attend the AHJ training seminar on Wednesday. I hope everyone learned something. Jeff Shadegg from the Inver Grove Heights Fire Department made a presentation on Friday about their grease exhaust inspection program. He has been doing this for over 20 years. Since he started the IGH program, they have eliminated grease exhaust fires!! With a low cost permit program and checking almost every single cleaning done right at the end of the jobs, the program has eliminated shortcut cleaning jobs along with the dangers and risks to the facilities. Jeff would be a good source for cities looking into their own program. Proper grease exhaust cleaning inspection programs can potentially save cities, restaurants, and insurance companies millions of dollars a year plus untold lives that are affected by the fires. John Lee, a Windsor, Canada Fire inspector also presented about their new program and they are finding the same things as all programs do at the start with vast areas not done to NFPA96 standards and the claims by the KEC companies that the duct are inaccessible. This claim is such a bogus line in my opinion and unacceptable. Proper UL listed access plates can easily be installed and the systems are not really inaccessible, the truth is the companies simply are not professionally evaluating the systems during their bid process and including and requiring proper access. My saying is simple. "There are no inaccessible areas, only areas people choose not to access." When you see "inaccessible areas cleaned" on a hood sticker, it is a possible warning that some or all areas were not cleaned and you still have a huge fire danger. I know this is standard on many canned hood stickers, but that statement needs to go away on a certification sticker. I think only systems completely cleaned should be certified!! That is my opinion and if followed, it will lead to a lot less confusion on what was actually cleaned or not. It also holds the cleaning companies and restaurants accountable. I tell all KEC companies that they should refuse to clean a job that will not allow them to install proper access and that proper access MUST be a precondition to taking on any job or bid.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Call for help from Competitor??
I got an interesting call from a KEC company owner cleaning an oriental concept with a longer horizontal duct run. The Fire Marshal had just failed the cleaning job and ordered it re-cleaned. The inspector had asked for pictures of the job, but the KEC company said he forgot, but he will certify that the system was indeed completely clean to NFPA96 standards. The inspector did not believe him for some reason and took pictures himself that I have posted above. The KEC company owner then asked how to get into the duct to clean it since we had a crew clean the system a couple years ago and the inspector had our pictures showing the same areas spotless. He also whined and complained on how hard these jobs are and how bad he underbid it. I told him there are access plates in the system that he should use and that he simply needs to get in there and get the job clean. He said the only access were above the hood and he sure wasn't going to "Crawl" up there!!??? Now one wonders how this company cleans systems that are not inspected with horizontal runs? Note: I made it to the access plate with ease and I am not a small person as those who know me can attest.
What you really pay for from your Kitchen Exhaust Cleaner
I just had a manager bring up an interesting point on value of a KEC (Kitchen exhaust cleaning) job. We were looking at a job that was just completed by a KEC company. As you can see in the pictures, only about 4 inches were cleaned up from the hood above a fryer system and about a foot down from the roof for the same system with none of the actual ductwork getting done on the other system. The fan screws were never removed or the fan tipped back. He said he paid about $400 for this cleaning. With over 20 feet of linear feet of ductwork both vertically and horizontally, he figures he paid about $400 per foot give or take a few dollars. By figuring apples to apples on the cleaning, he said the cost of cleaning the entire system by this company would be over $8000.00 at the "inexpensive rate" he had. There are many national. regional, and local KEC programs with per store pricing that seem like a good price but...... They may be inexpensive per store, but there are many that are in the thousands of dollars per foot range. Many of these restaurants are really getting "taken to the cleaners" or more literally "Taken BY the cleaners". He pointed out, that is what he is really paying for the cheap company is the $400 per foot when in reality $20-$40 per foot(depending on duct run and accessibility) is more in line that the quality companies end up charging for doing the system correctly for his particular concept. You cannot use a per foot price for bids of course as all systems are different, but it is a good analogy on value and why you need to inspect the cleanings and be very careful during the bid process on what you are getting for your money. This concept is not a large grease producer but you can see what happens after a few years when the inexpensive company skips areas. This store is only 4 years old. The manager said that the worst part is that they thought their system was safe from fire all this past 4 years that they were paying for this work every 6 months. He was not only "hosed" by the cleaning company, but could have been "hosed" again with the fire department attempting to put a grease fire out.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Picture programs

Jack and I are doing a picture program overview at the IKECA technical seminar to go over proven programs and technics. Even after 40 years of using pictures and video for job verifications, we are still learning, evolving, and improving almost daily ways to implement and use pictures for jobs. There are two primary uses for your pictures. One is to verify the job was done properly along with preexisting pictures of deficiencies found. I also like to have a couple of before pictures to show customers where their systems are in excellent shape as far as deficiencies go before the job starts. You always want everything to be extremely thorough and objective with a proper program. The other is for sales use to show the customers how good of a job you are actually doing. Of course from the sales perspective, the more buildup at the start, the better it looks when the system is spotless in the end. When I view inspection pictures however, I do not really like before pictures mixed in unless requested to view normal buildup in the system. What happens is that the pictures can become confusing. The more confusing pictures are, the more likely you are not seeing the actual overall condition of the system. I had several kitchen exhaust cleaners actually bragging to me that they breath on the lenses of the cameras to "Fog" the pictures up so their bosses and customers cannot see what they misses. I require fuzzy pictures to be retaken. All pictures other than the most simple straight up systems do need a picture description. This does not mean renaming the pictures as that can compromise security. I require the original camera numbers on the pictures and in order. A fast way for picture descriptions is to have a word file with generic names already listed that you can copy and paste from in your e-mail or attached PDF file that goes with the pictures and simply use what you need from the list and change the picture numbers to match your actual picture numbers. I also require a dated work order picture IN SEQUENCE. This is another good security measure to help avoid staff using fake or duplicated pictures. New technologies are now including GPS coordinates with the dates imbedded in the pictures which will lead to greater picture security. I highly recommend using a waterproof and shockproof digital camera for grease exhaust pictures. Standard digital camera simply do not hold up and are difficult to keep clean. You will end up with grease and moisture on the camera that will have to be removed. For longer systems, you may even need to use a video camera in addition to the digital camera. No matter what, you will need baseline pictures of the complete system to verify that future cleaning pictures are complete and actually of the same system. Even honest staff can mix up picture when doing several jobs a night. Adding the work order picture are we require helps separate jobs and keeps the confusion down. Remember that we are not in a perfect world and camera chips can and do go bad or pictures are accidentally erased. There are several good picture recovery programs out there, (I use KLIX),but they often re-date the pictures that are recovered. Without the embedded work order with the job and date, you might not have any idea which job is which. Finally, you need to actually view each and every single job. I just received pictures from a job with some colorful language written into the grease. The KEC owner was extremely embarrassed. I think they will be checking their pictures more closely before sending next time. I have viewed numerous web based programs and it is obvious not one is looking. The posted pictures are often very incomplete and many include pictures with vast areas of grease buildup. Maybe leaving grease in the system is acceptable to them, but it is NOT acceptable to NFPA96 standards nor to most AJH. (inspectors). I have just assisted going through several jobs in a current picture program for and inspector and it was appalling what was getting missed. We did find out that there are no baseline pictures built into the program so the inspector really had no idea what they were looking at. The unscrupulous KEC vendors(unfortunately that is almost all of the KEC vendors) know this and carefully avoid taking pictures of areas they do not clean. Remember, you really should take you own baseline pictures so you know exactly where the system goes and what the inside looks like. Clean duct picture are best as you can see spots, welds, other things in the metal to match up with the pictures that are sent to you. Finally, unless the pictures are obvious, you need a good picture description list so you know what you are looking at. This and a drawing if the system is complicated. Here is a typical list we use for one concept.

