Commercial Fire Blog

Introduction

Food trucks have become a major force as of late, popping up in parks and neighborhoods across the nation. While mobile, they aren’t exempt from the Fire and Life Safety regulations that brick-and-mortar restaurants are accustomed to. From a code standpoint, a food truck is just another form of a commercial kitchen. Through this blog, affiliates will learn about their expectations and how NFPA 96 applies in such a confined, self-contained environment.

NFPA 96 Extends Beyond Brick-and-Mortar Kitchens

Before diving into the complexities, it’s important first to understand NFPA 96 at its core. Simply put, NFPA 96, Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations, is “widely used by anyone involved in the design, installation, operation, and maintenance of commercial kitchen ventilation and fire suppression systems. From commercial kitchen operators, installers, and maintenance professionals to insurance companies, fire marshals, and inspectors, users rely on the standard for critical information and requirements for preventing fires in restaurants, schools, hotels, and other commercial cooking settings.”

The standard covers all types of cooking equipment, including fans, stove exhaust hoods, grease removal devices, cooking exhaust systems, fire suppression systems, and combustible clearance. With this guidance in mind, it’s fair to say that food trucks fall under this umbrella. This was previously implied but was made official in the 2024 edition. Chapter 17 is geared specifically toward mobile cooking operations. There are currently requirements for fire suppression, ventilation, fire extinguishers, propane safety, and maintenance schedules.

Why Food Trucks Present Unique (and Elevated) Risks

Food trucks and commercial kitchens certainly have their differences, but they both have one big thing in common: grease. Regardless of whether it’s a truck or a restaurant, grease vapors can still creep through the exhaust system and accumulate on internal surfaces. Over time, that very same buildup can become highly combustible.

The data on this topic hits home the seriousness of grease. According to the NFPA, United States fire departments are dispatched to roughly 7,410 restaurant and bar fires each year, resulting in an average of three deaths, 110 injuries, and $165 million in property damage. In 2017, they published a report titled Structure Fires in Eating and Drinking Establishments that found that grease hoods/duct exhaust fans were responsible for 150 fires between 2010 and 2014 alone, resulting in $7 million in damages.

What makes food trucks different from ordinary restaurants is how quickly those risks can escalate. Confined layouts, onboard propane systems, and limited ventilation all increase the likelihood of a serious incident, on top of the already-present cooking hazards. That’s why standards such as NFPA 96 exist in the first place.

What NFPA 96 Requires in a Food Truck

Although the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) may have its own interpretation, the core of NFPA 96 remains the same. At a high level, there are six areas that affiliates should be able to assess and discuss with every mobile cooking customer:

• Hood & Ventilation System: Code-compliant hood and exhaust system constructed from noncombustible materials
• Fire Suppression System: Automatic fire suppression system designed and installed in accordance with NFPA 17A
• Fire Extinguishers: Portable fire extinguishers, including Class K protection for grease fires
• LP-Gas / Propane Safety: Listed propane detector, exterior shutoff valve, and post-installation leak testing
• Clearance & Siting: Required 10-foot clearance from entrances, exits, vehicles, combustibles, and adjacent cooking operations
• Employee Training: Documented training on extinguisher use, fuel shutoff, leak testing, and emergency response

Together, these requirements demonstrate that NFPA 96 governs the entire fire protection ecosystem of a mobile kitchen.

Cleaning and Maintenance: The Most Critical Gap

Contrary to popular belief, ongoing maintenance is just as important for food trucks as it is for commercial kitchens, if not more so. Unfortunately, this misconception has caused many food truck owners to fall short of these requirements. This reason led NFPA 96 to tighten them starting in the 2025 edition, leaving no room for confusion. Since then, the system owner/operator has been responsible for cleaning at the intervals below:

Yes, cleaning frequency largely depends on cooking volume. However, NFPA 96 makes it clear that visible grease accumulation must be cleaned immediately. Given the limited depth of food truck exhaust hoods, this can happen quite frequently. Professional hood cleanings can be quite costly, so customers often look for ways to slow the accumulation as much as possible. Commercial Fire's patented Grease Lock® Filter System uses heat-resistant fiber engineered to trap grease before it enters the exhaust system, keeping ventilation pathways cleaner and significantly reducing the risk of fire. It's a direct compliance upgrade that affiliates can offer to any customer in mobile cooking or commercial kitchen environments. More information on Grease Lock is available here.

Where Commercial Fire Adds Value

Food trucks have completely changed where commercial cooking takes place. What hasn’t changed, though, are the standards that govern safety. No matter where or when, NFPA 96 still applies if grease-laden vapors are present. For Commercial Fire affiliates, this creates new opportunities to extend services. One thing to reinforce in customers’ minds is that compliance is universal across all kitchens, whether on wheels or not. By doing so, affiliates play a direct role in protecting life and property to the fullest.

Affiliates looking to deepen their expertise can also take advantage of Commercial Fire’s partner, the FED Learning Center, which offers an On-Demand Module titled Mobile Food Truck and Temporary Cooking Regulation. The course covers how mobile and temporary cooking operations are defined, when codes apply, key hazards such as grease-laden vapors, propane systems, generators, and solid-fuel cooking, and the fire protection, setup, inspection, and training practices needed to support safer, more compliant operations.