Flue Fire at San Francisco's Oldest Restaurant: What the 2009 Tadich Grill Fire Teaches Hood Cleaners
On Monday, August 24, 2009, a two-alarm fire hit Tadich Grill at 240 California St. in San Francisco. Tadich was established in 1849. It's the city's oldest restaurant and one of its oldest businesses.
We posted about it on the PWI board the next day. Here's that original post: SF's Oldest Restaurant Damaged In Fire
It's worth another look, because it's a textbook kitchen exhaust lesson.
What happened
Here's what the San Francisco Chronicle reported (via SFGATE):
Read the full Chronicle article, and see their photos, here: Fire damages historic Tadich Grill restaurant (SFGATE)
The part every hood cleaner should notice
Chief Gardner said fire inspectors check every six months to make sure grease doesn't build up in flues. He also said Tadich had passed inspection within the past few months.
Let that sink in. Passing an inspection doesn't mean a system is clean. An inspection is a snapshot. Grease and residue keep building between visits. That's especially true in a kitchen running solid fuel like a wood-burning stove or a mesquite broiler. The flue doesn't care when the last inspection was.
And look at where the money went. The flue fire itself stayed contained, but most of the $160,000 came from tearing into the ceiling to reach it. Fire in a duct or flue is hidden fire. Getting to it is expensive, even when the crew does everything right.
Why this matters for your business
Tadich got lucky. The crews were fast, nobody got hurt, and they were open again the next day. Plenty of kitchen fires don't end that way. The difference is often what's sitting inside the duct, and that's our job.
If you're doing kitchen exhaust work, or thinking about adding it, post your questions here on the board. I'm happy to help, and we cover hood and exhaust cleaning in our training. More at PressureWashingInstitute.org.
— Ron Musgraves
Source: John King and Jaxon Van Derbeken, "Fire damages historic Tadich Grill restaurant," San Francisco Chronicle / SFGATE, Aug. 25, 2009. Photos belong to the Chronicle and photographers; see them at the link above.
On Monday, August 24, 2009, a two-alarm fire hit Tadich Grill at 240 California St. in San Francisco. Tadich was established in 1849. It's the city's oldest restaurant and one of its oldest businesses.
We posted about it on the PWI board the next day. Here's that original post: SF's Oldest Restaurant Damaged In Fire
It's worth another look, because it's a textbook kitchen exhaust lesson.
What happened
Here's what the San Francisco Chronicle reported (via SFGATE):
- The fire was reported at 11:21 a.m.
- It started in a wood-burning stove, and the flames went up the flue.
- About three dozen firefighters came in 13 trucks.
- They kept the fire confined to the flue.
- Damage was estimated at $160,000. Most of that came from firefighters pulling out part of the ceiling to get at the fire.
- No one was hurt.
- Deputy Fire Chief Pat Gardner called it a "typical flue fire."
Read the full Chronicle article, and see their photos, here: Fire damages historic Tadich Grill restaurant (SFGATE)
The part every hood cleaner should notice
Chief Gardner said fire inspectors check every six months to make sure grease doesn't build up in flues. He also said Tadich had passed inspection within the past few months.
Let that sink in. Passing an inspection doesn't mean a system is clean. An inspection is a snapshot. Grease and residue keep building between visits. That's especially true in a kitchen running solid fuel like a wood-burning stove or a mesquite broiler. The flue doesn't care when the last inspection was.
And look at where the money went. The flue fire itself stayed contained, but most of the $160,000 came from tearing into the ceiling to reach it. Fire in a duct or flue is hidden fire. Getting to it is expensive, even when the crew does everything right.
Why this matters for your business
- Grease goes where you can't see it. Hoods and filters are the easy part. The real fire load sits up in the ducts, flues, and fan. If you only clean what the customer can see, you're not doing the job.
- Clean on a schedule, not on a complaint. NFPA 96 is the standard for commercial kitchen ventilation. How often a system needs inspection and cleaning depends on what kind of cooking it handles and how much of it. Know the current standard, know what your local fire marshal (AHJ) expects, and build a schedule for each account. Don't just show up when someone calls.
- Document everything. Before and after photos of the duct and flue, not just the hood. Service tags. Notes on access panels you could and couldn't reach. That protects you and it protects the restaurant owner.
- Do it right and it's steady work. Every commercial kitchen has an exhaust system that needs regular service. Restaurant owners and their insurance carriers care about this stuff. A contractor who shows up on schedule, cleans the whole system to bare metal, and documents it is worth keeping. That's recurring work, not one-off jobs.
- Know your limits. If you find damaged ductwork, missing access panels, or a system that can't be cleaned properly, tell the owner in writing. Don't sign off on something you couldn't reach.
Tadich got lucky. The crews were fast, nobody got hurt, and they were open again the next day. Plenty of kitchen fires don't end that way. The difference is often what's sitting inside the duct, and that's our job.
If you're doing kitchen exhaust work, or thinking about adding it, post your questions here on the board. I'm happy to help, and we cover hood and exhaust cleaning in our training. More at PressureWashingInstitute.org.
— Ron Musgraves
Source: John King and Jaxon Van Derbeken, "Fire damages historic Tadich Grill restaurant," San Francisco Chronicle / SFGATE, Aug. 25, 2009. Photos belong to the Chronicle and photographers; see them at the link above.