Food truck fire suppression in South Florida

Check your suppression system between visits

Your kitchen fire suppression system is a detection line, nozzles aimed at each appliance and into the hood, a cylinder of wet chemical agent, a pull station and a gas or power shutoff. Between inspections, check these:

• Grease around the nozzles. Buildup on nozzles, in the hood plenum or on appliances can get in the way of the discharge.
• Nozzles that match your equipment. If you moved, swapped or upgraded an appliance, the nozzles have to match the new line-up.
• Shutoffs labeled and clear. Gas and electric shutoff switches should be labeled, working, and not blocked, tampered with or damaged.
• The detection line. Tripped detection wires, loose conduit or a sagging, damaged cable can keep the system from going off.
• Seals and pins. Broken seals, disconnected cables or missing pins mean someone has interfered with the system.

If something looks wrong, call us and leave the system alone. The technicians who do this work in Florida need a state permit.

If a fire starts

Never pour water on a grease fire. Then:

1. Turn off the equipment.
2. Pull the suppression system, if it’s safe to reach the pull station.
3. Use your Class K extinguisher.
4. Call 911.
5. Get everyone out if needed.

The Class K extinguisher is plan B. Keep a written fire plan on the truck and train everyone who works the line on it.

What we do for food trucks

• Kitchen fire suppression inspection every six months. We check the detection line and fusible links, nozzles and caps, the agent cylinder, the pull station and the shutoff. Florida fire department checklists look for a hood suppression service tag less than six months old. The tag shows the technician’s name and permit number, and you get a signed copy of the inspection report.
• On the same visit. Hood cleaning and filter exchange are separate services you can book alongside the inspection.
• New equipment or a new truck. If you change your line-up, we check that the nozzles match the new appliances. If you’re building a truck, we install kitchen fire suppression systems too.

We schedule each visit for when and where your truck is parked, and around your events. You get a reminder before each visit and online access to past reports and upcoming appointments.

Done Right is licensed by the Florida Division of State Fire Marshal to service, repair, install and inspect pre-engineered kitchen fire suppression systems. A CaptiveAire TANK certified technician is on staff. More on kitchen fire suppression inspection.

What Broward, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs and Palm Beach County ask of food trucks

Florida’s fire code lets the local fire authority issue permits for mobile cooking operations, so what a truck needs depends on where it parks.

• Broward County (countywide). The local amendments for mobile and temporary cooking call for a binder with your licenses, suppression reports and cleaning report, available to the fire inspector. Extinguishing systems must meet UL 300 or an equivalent standard and be installed per their listing, the manufacturer’s instructions and NFPA 17A. For inspection and cleaning, the amendments point to NFPA 96 (Table 11.4).
• Hollywood. The Fire Marshal’s food vendor requirements say vendors may not start cooking at an event until a City of Hollywood Fire Prevention Officer has inspected and approved them. Food trucks must have a copy of their inspection report available for the fire inspector.
• Pompano Beach. The city’s 2026 food truck checklist asks for a documentation binder with the fire suppression report and a hood cleaning report, plus extinguisher, LPG and generator items.
• Coral Springs. The Coral Springs-Parkland Fire Department‘s Community Risk Reduction division handles mobile food vehicles. Vendors call when they arrive, park in front of the office and wait for an inspector to meet them outside.
• Palm Beach County. Where Palm Beach County’s local fire code amendments apply, mobile food trucks are on an annual safety inspection cycle.

Each fire authority has the final word, so ask what yours wants to see. For more on day-to-day safety, read fire safety for food trucks.

One person to call for the inspection, the cleaning and the filters

Fire suppression inspections, hood cleaning and filter exchange all come from us, so a truck owner has one person to call and one place for the reports that go in the binder.

• Emergency repairs, with rapid response across South Florida from our Plantation office.
• Installs with the city filing handled for you.
• Electrostatic precipitators (pollution control units): few companies are licensed to service them, and we do.

Food truck questions we hear