Kitchen Fire Extinguisher (K Type, Wet Chemical) in Bhopal

A kitchen fire usually starts in a fryer, kadai or tawa, when the oil heats past the point where it catches fire on its own. Water thrown on it sinks under the oil, flashes into steam and throws burning oil out of the pan. A powder or CO2 extinguisher can knock the flames down, but the oil stays hot enough to catch fire again a few seconds later.

A wet chemical agent works differently. It reacts with the hot fat to form a soap-like layer over the surface and cools the oil below the point where it reignites. That is why these units carry an F rating for cooking oil fires (Class F in IS 15683 and EN 3 ratings, Class K in American ones), and why buyers call them K type, class K, class F or wet chemical extinguishers.

In a commercial kitchen the extinguisher is the first response. A hood suppression system is the one that acts when nobody is there, or when the fire is already in the hood and the exhaust duct, where a hand held extinguisher cannot reach.

Ceasefire offers wet chemical units in 3, 6 and 9 ltr, in spray and aspirating BIS models rated 2A, 25F at 3 ltr and an EN approved model rated 8A, 40F at 3 ltr, and lists them for live electrical equipment up to 1000 V from 1 metre. Kanex makes a stainless steel K class unit in 2, 3, 6 and 9 L rated 15F, Minimax a potassium based unit in 1 to 9 litre steel cylinders, and Savemax a stainless steel unit in 2, 4 and 6 L.

Fire ratings, discharge time and weight at each size are on each model's page.

A suppression system watches the cooking line day and night. A heat sensing tube runs along the hood above the appliances; when fire reaches it, the tube bursts and the agent is discharged through nozzles over the cooking surface, the hood, the duct and the plenum, with a manual trigger as back up.

Ceasefire offers commercial kitchen systems certified by LPCB under LPS 1223, watermist or wet chemical based, residential systems for home kitchens that hide inside the hood, and the Ultra-X engineered system certified to UL 300. Kanex offers a pre-engineered 9 litre wet chemical hood system whose tube bursts at 175 degrees C and needs no electricity. FPS surveys the hood and duct, recommends the system and installs it.

A fire blanket smothers a small pan fire before it spreads, or is wrapped around a person whose clothes have caught fire. The Minimax fire blanket is a single piece of 1.6 mm fiberglass cloth rated to resist up to 550 degrees C, in 1.2 x 1.2 m, 1.2 x 1.8 m and 1.8 x 1.8 m. Keep it on the wall near the cooking range, next to the extinguisher.

Size the extinguisher by the oil. A 2 or 3 litre unit suits a home kitchen or a small counter with one fryer. A busy restaurant or hotel line with deep fryers is better served by 6 or 9 litre units. Mount it on the way out of the kitchen, a few steps from the cooking range, so it can be reached without leaning over the fire.

Add a hood system where the cooking is heavy: kitchens with deep fryers, tandoors, woks and long cooking lines, and every kitchen whose exhaust duct runs through the building. The system works when the kitchen is empty and reaches the duct, where grease collects.

Cover the rest of the premises too: ABC extinguishers for the dining hall, store and general fire points, and a CO2 unit beside the electrical panel. For a restaurant or hotel Fire NOC, the MP Fire Department checks the number and type of extinguishers, and our engineers work this out on a free site visit in Bhopal.