Fire Kitchen Service in San Bernardino County

A cooking permit every year, a service tag every six months

If you cook under a hood in San Bernardino County, you're working against two clocks. One is the fire code permit. The other is the suppression system tag. When the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District adopted its District Fire Code in February 2023, its local amendments added an annual operational permit for commercial cooking, so a restaurant in District territory renews that permit every year. The hood system above the line needs service every six months under NFPA 96 and NFPA 17A. Put both dates on the calendar. Before your permit renewal, ask the fire office what it wants to see from your suppression service.

Which fire office covers your kitchen?

That depends on your city. San Bernardino County Fire's Office of the Fire Marshal, at 598 S. Tippecanoe Ave. in San Bernardino, is the department's inspection and regulatory arm, and the cities it serves include Adelanto, Fontana, Grand Terrace, Hesperia, Needles, San Bernardino, Twentynine Palms, Upland and Yucca Valley. Other cities run their own fire agency. Rancho Cucamonga is one: its Fire Protection District has a Prevention Bureau, under its own Fire Marshal, that handles high-hazard Fire Code inspections.

Not sure which one you fall under? Call your city first. The District code adopted the 2022 California Fire Code with local amendments, so confirm the edition in force with the fire marshal before you plan any changes. Fire prevention information is posted by the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District, Office of the Fire Marshal.

What we check at each six-month visit

The visit follows NFPA 96 and NFPA 17A. A technician works through the system from the agent cylinder to the pull station:

• Agent cylinder pressure and condition.
• Detection line and fusible links. Metal-alloy links are replaced at least every six months.
• Nozzles and caps, checked against the appliances below them.
• The manual pull station.
• Fuel and power shutoff when the system releases.
• A dated service tag.

Then the portable side. Every kitchen with a suppression system also needs a Class K extinguisher for cooking oils and fats. Wet chemical units need a hydrostatic test every five years in addition to annual maintenance, and we handle both through our fire extinguisher service in San Bernardino County and hydrostatic testing.

Still on an old dry chemical system? Older dry chemical systems don't meet UL 300, the test standard for pre-engineered wet chemical systems that protect cooking appliances. Ask us to look at yours on the first visit.

Moved a fryer? Tell us first.

A UL 300 system is laid out around the appliances under the hood. If you swap a fryer for a charbroiler, shift the line a few feet or add a wok, the nozzle that covered the old appliance may now point at nothing. The tag still looks current. The coverage isn't. Call before the new appliance goes in, and we'll check nozzle placement and detection against the new layout.

Who does the work

California work for 1 Pro Fire is done by Hedrick Fire Protection. Hedrick holds C-16 fire protection and C-10 electrical contractor licenses, and the California State Fire Marshal licenses it under Title 19 for portable extinguisher service and for inspection, testing and maintenance of water-based fire protection systems. For a job much like yours, read how we beat a fire marshal's 30-day deadline on a San Diego restaurant hood system.

Schedule kitchen suppression service

Tell us your city, how many hoods you have and when the last tag was punched. Reach us at (909) 219-9411 or socal@1profire.com.

Related services and nearby pages

• San Bernardino County fire protection services
• Fire extinguisher training for kitchen staff
• Fire alarm testing in San Bernardino County
• Fire kitchen service in Fontana
• Fire kitchen service in Rancho Cucamonga
• Fire kitchen service in Big Bear Lake

Kitchen suppression questions

How often does a hood suppression system need service?

Every six months. NFPA 96 and NFPA 17A set the semiannual schedule, and metal-alloy fusible links are replaced at least that often.

Do I need a permit to run a commercial kitchen?

In County Fire territory, yes. The District's local fire code amendments added an annual operational permit for commercial cooking; if your city has its own fire agency, such as Rancho Cucamonga, ask that agency what it requires.

Our system is old dry chemical. Is that a problem?

It can be. Older dry chemical systems don't meet UL 300, so check with your fire office and have us look at the system.

Do we still need an extinguisher if we have a hood system?

Yes. Kitchens with suppression systems also need a Class K portable extinguisher.