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Fire and building inspectors from throughout the state will converge on Warsaw Oct. 19 and 20 to attend the Commercial Kitchen Exhaust Inspection course.
The two-day event is co-sponsored by the Indiana Fire Inspectors, District 2 and Warsaw Planning and Fire departments, according to Warsaw Building Inspector Gene Oliver.
"The course will teach the inspectors how to inspect both older and newer kitchen exhaust systems," Oliver said. "There are restaurants out there who will just put a fan on the roof and be done with it, and that's not acceptable."
As a part of the instruction, Oliver has arranged for the class attendees to tour three area restaurants to see both older and newer exhaust systems.
The restaurants participating include Orion's, Hacienda and the China Palace.
"We have worked very closely with Gene in the past and when he came to us, because we have an older but very effective exhaust system, we were happy to help," said Melissa Samuelson, who owns Orion's with her husband, Curt.
"It's just a service that we can do to help the community and we're glad to help the fire department," she said.
That sentiment was echoed by Ben Chow, owner of The China Palace, which recently installed a newer kitchen exhaust system.
"Gene picked this restaurant because my system is new and he thought that it would show how these systems have been improved," Chow said.
The pride of giving back to the community, as well as the good will that can be gained, was also the motivating factor for Hacienda Manager Duane Pickering to agree to have the class inspect his restaurant's exhaust system.
"It makes me feel good to have them come in and use us as an example. It gives us a chance to stick our chest out," he said. "Gene had asked me about participating last May when we were still getting ready to open. We have a state-of-the-art system, and he wanted the class to see the latest exhaust technology."
The keynote speaker of the two-day event will be Phil Ackland, a renowned expert in the commercial kitchen exhaust field. Ackland has consulted with insurance companies and legislatures on fire safety for more than 30 years. He also designed and patented the only UL listed access panel for commercial kitchen exhaust systems.
