No restaurant owner wants to contemplate what would occur should there be a kitchen fire in his or her establishment. At the same time, it’s critical to understand that any fire that potentially involves common kitchen items such as grease and cooking oil has the potential to spread very quickly. In light of those considerations, installing a fire suppression system is of paramount importance.

Modern commercial kitchens can contain a host of appliances that increase the possibility of fire. These include broilers, advanced fryers and charcoal and wood-fired grills. Many modern appliances use efficient burners that can heat up rapidly, increasing the fire danger. And since more and more dishes are prepared with various kinds of vegetable oils, flash fires are a constant threat.

Fire suppression systems for commercial kitchens typically deploy automatically once temperatures become too hot in any cooking area. The nozzles of the system, which are located above the cooking area, release a chemical compound (similar to that found in ordinary fire extinguishers); at the same time, many of the kitchen’s cooking systems, which are connected electrically to the suppression system, can shut down, cutting the supply of fuel that could increase and intensify a fire.

Why the need for a special system? According to the Fire Suppression Systems Association (FSSA), “The fire alarm and sprinkler systems we see every day may...

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