A food trailer that cooks with a fryer, griddle, charbroiler, range or pizza oven needs a UL 300-listed wet-chemical fire suppression system over the cook line under NFPA 96, the standard nearly every fire marshal enforces. Eastcoast Concessions has the system installed and certified by licensed fire-suppression technicians as part of the build, sized to the equipment on your approved drawing.
NFPA 96 is the standard for commercial cooking ventilation and fire protection, and fire marshals apply it to trailers the same way they apply it to restaurants. It requires an automatic suppression system over any equipment that produces grease-laden vapor: open-flame ranges and charbroilers, deep fryers, griddles, salamanders, and the hood plenum and exhaust duct above them. A trailer with only electric warming or cold service is a gray area — some jurisdictions still require suppression, most do not — so confirm with your local fire marshal before you spec the build. New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania fire marshals look closely at propane and wood-burning setups in particular.
UL 300 is the test standard a wet-chemical system must pass to be certified for fires in the high-temperature vegetable oils modern kitchens cook with. When a code official asks for a 'UL 300 system', they mean the listing, not a brand.
NFPA 17A (section 8.3.2) requires a qualified technician to service a wet-chemical system at least every six months, and NFPA 96 (section 12.2.1) requires maintenance on the same six-month cycle. The technician leaves a dated tag on the system; inspectors and event organizers will ask to see it. Keep the installation certificate with the trailer's papers.
Fire suppression on our builds is installed by licensed fire-suppression technicians who size, plumb and certify the system to the appliances on your drawing, and we supply the spec documentation your fire marshal will ask for. The authority having jurisdiction makes the final call — we cannot promise their outcome, only that the build meets the standard. System size follows hood length and appliance count, so it is quoted per build in the configurator.
It is a gray area — ask your fire marshal. Many jurisdictions do not require suppression on a unit with no open flame and no hot grease, and some still do. The requirement in NFPA 96 is tied to equipment that produces grease-laden vapor, not to the fuel source.
Every six months. NFPA 17A (section 8.3.2) requires a qualified technician to service a wet-chemical system at least semiannually, and NFPA 96 (section 12.2.1) puts maintenance on the same six-month cycle. The technician leaves a dated tag on the system.
Yes, if the hood and cook line meet NFPA 96 clearances — the installer sizes the system to what is actually under the hood.
The local fire marshal, or whichever authority having jurisdiction issues your permit, inspects the installed system. On top of that, a qualified technician services and re-tags it every six months.