The Rank Group chooses Chubb fire's Fry Fighter
Two parts of the massive Rank Group, UK leaders in leisure and entertainment, have given the thumbs up to Chubb's groundbreaking product Fry Fighter, an extinguisher especially designed to combat cooking oil and fat fires.
First to sign up were Rank's Leisure Businesses, which have committed to buying Fry Fighter for new premises. The vote of confidence for the Chubb product was given by Peter Ford, Head of Risk Management for Rank UK Leisure - which encompasses nightclubs, casinos, Odeon cinemas, Tom Cobleigh pubs, and Mecca Bingo outlets.
"There is no doubt at all that Fry Fighter will be of tremendous benefit. The majority of our premises - except for the cinemas - have fast food deep frying facilities. Up to now we have installed fixed hood suppressions systems, which are expensive, and specified fire blankets and foam. However the advanced technology of Fry Fighter provides a much better way of controlling the risk, at the same time as being highly cost effective", said Peter Ford, who added that it was likely the product would also be introduced retrospectively in existing premises.
"All new premises will have Fry Fighter installed and this will produce an immediate significant cost saving. However when you assess the potential cost to a business of a fire, compared to the cost of buying Fry Fighter to protect your staff and assets, there is no question that installing the product throughout the businesses makes good sense," he explained.
"It's about four years since I heard that the product might be developed. I placed an order as soon as I learned it had been launched."
It is also probable that Fry Fighter will be installed throughout Rank Holidays - another Rank Group business - for the start of next year's holiday season. The extinguisher has already been installed in selected premises - and used highly successfully.
Fry Fighter was used within days of being installed at a Burger King outlet at the Oasis Lakeland Forest Village at Penrith, and Health and Safety Technician Trevor Bateson said that its performance was "absolutely brilliant".
He said, "A fire started in a very large fryer and Fry Fighter put it out immediately. It was all over and done with so quickly. There was no chance of re-ignition. It was absolutely brilliant. The head chef, who used the extinguisher, has been in the business a long time and seen lots of cooking oil fires and he was really impressed with the product's performance. He was also impressed by being able to use Fry Fighter a good distance from the flames because cooking oil fires are very hot indeed."
The extinguisher was bought as an extra precautionary safeguard after Trevor Bateson had watched a video which demonstrated the product's capabilities. "Before purchase I consulted our local fire officer and after checking out the specification he recommended it", he said. "Having now seen what it can do at first hand, I will be pushing to have Fry Fighter installed in all kitchens with deep fat frying facilities in the holiday village."
Jackie Gawen, Environmental Health and Safety Executive for Rank Holidays, said that she was "massively impressed" with Fry Fighter.
Rank Holidays includes Haven holidays, 56 self catering caravan parks, Warner Holidays, five historic buildings converted to luxury hotels for adults only, Oasis, the Penrith holiday village set in 400 acres of forest, Resorts USA, which includes campgrounds and timeshare resorts and the British favourite, Butlins, as well as a live entertainment booking agency.
"There is likely to be a phased programme to install Fry Fighter across the Holiday Business. I will certainly be recommending it as part of our standard fire protection package", said Jackie Gawen.
"I have been very much involved with risk management - looking at ways to decrease risk - and I was very impressed with the performance of this product compared to any other system or product to tackle cooking oil fires", she said.
The effectiveness of Fry Fighter has been certified by the Loss Prevention Council, which tested it on a massive blazing vat containing 75 litres of cooking oil. Deep fat fires are particularly dangerous because their auto-ignition temperature is 360C which means that the resulting temperature is up to eight times hotter than fires using petrol or heptane, the fuel used for normal Class B flammable liquid fires. Fry Fighter provides a two-pronged fire fighting effect, by knocking out the flames in seconds, then capping the oil with a 'soapy' crust, which prevents re-ignition.
Designed specifically for the catering industry, Fry Fighter has already proved popular in a whole range of catering environments, from major food processors to local fish and chip shops, and from pubs, restaurant and hotel chains to public sector kitchens and canteens which cater for thousands. Customers now include Scottish and Newcastle, Bass Brewers, Hilton International, NHS Trust hospitals and HM Prison Service.
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