Denver, CO -- (ReleaseWire) -- 09/10/2013 --If you’ve lived in any city for around ten years or more, you’ve probably noticed change. More people. More cars. More businesses. And definitely MORE RESTAURANTS!

Ten years ago, you may have had a couple of fast food joints and a chain restaurant on your city’s main drive. Now, “What’s for dinner?” can be answered with literally a couple dozen different possibilities. Family-owned restaurants, all-you-can-eat buffets, drive-ins, and take-out places serving everything from pizza to hibachi to steak dinner.

Naturally, with the substantial increase in places to eat there are also more substantial risks of accidents and careless behavior that lead to kitchen fires. You probably know a restaurant in your neighborhood that’s no longer standing due to a fire. What you don’t know is there are many smaller fires that may not destroy the restaurant, but may damage the kitchen, destroy valuable equipment or put an employee or customer at risk.

You already know the basics about how to prevent and/or contain a kitchen fire. Today, you will learn lesser known tips about how to keep your kitchen fire-free for the life of your restaurant.

- You KNOW you need a fire extinguisher in your restaurant kitchen. What you may NOT KNOW is that the extinguisher should be rated as UL-300.

- You KNOW you should only be cooking under an approved hood. What you may NOT KNOW is that the restaurant hood needs to be rated for the type of cooking equipment you are using.

- You KNOW an excess of combustible grease is a fire hazard. What you may NOT KNOW is that this grease buildup can be in hard to see and hard to reach places. Such places include your ductwork above your exhaust hood, between cooking appliances and on the walls and ceilings.

- You KNOW you need filters for your exhaust hood. What you may NOT KNOW that the wrong filters or improperly fitting filters may put you at risk of fire.

- You KNOW you should keep boxes and other materials away from cooking equipment. What you may NOT KNOW is that certain food preparation tools and certain ingredients can be just as combustible.

- You KNOW the hood and ductwork needs to be cleaned of grease. What you may NOT KNOW is that they should be cleaned at least twice a year and more often if you fry foods excessively.

- You KNOW that any work around fryers should be handled with care. What you may NOT KNOW is that the type of oil and temperature of the oil varies based on the fryers.

- You KNOW fryers must be kept apart from open flames. What you may NOT KNOW is that fryers should be kept at least 16 inches away from flame-producing equipment.

- You KNOW your employees should be trained to work in your restaurant. But do your employees KNOW the plan if there is a contained or uncontained fire in the kitchen?

Now you KNOW more about how to keep your restaurant, your employees, and your patrons safe by preventing fires in your kitchen.

For more information about Restaurant hood cleaning, visit APS-Hoods.