Solid Fuel system fire within 24 hours after inspection

How dangerous is it using companies that are not certified and give excuses when they do not clean the complete jobs. Here is a synopsis of the final result. A restaurant owner called in 2 weeks ago for a system survey as the owner was concerned about the completeness of the previous cleanings. The systems had been cleaned approximately 3 months prior. The systems were inspected on a Saturday morning right after the survey request. This was only 3 weeks ago. As we can see in the pictures, there were some obvious signs where the previous cleanings stopped and where the duct appears to possibly have a obstruction in the grease when the turn was shown in the close up picture . Particularly in the wood fired Pizza System. The restaurant owner was shown the pictures and informed about the issues. The owner was obviously very concerned about the buildup and wanted something done. This cleaning job was from the same cleaning company previous pictures had shown obvious skipped areas of systems and extreme fire hazards left in systems after cleanings. The first job shown in previous pictures had obvious lines where the previous cleaning had stopped looking up from the hood and the horizontal had not been cleaned at all. They had excused it off as discoloration, etc. As I had said previously, I have heard anyone call stalactite greasicles hanging from top of the ductwork "Discoloration" or "Staining" of the duct. I will have to put that in my excuse list on why systems were not cleaned. We will use number 72 for that one. The next time we see one of their jobs a few months later at another location, the survey done the day after their cleaning shows a solid fuel system that was almost plugged. This was obvious in pictures taken right after the exhaust cleaning was done and shown in the blog. Obviously the cleaning company did not learn their lessons and we wondered after those pictures how much worse it can get. When company excuses their non-perfomance, it leads to what did happen next. Less than 24 hours later on that very next Sunday morning (and without time to rectify the situation), the inspector received a call that the pizza system was on fire and the fan had melted down. From the pictures taken and the survey performed, the cause was believed to be extreme grease buildup that was not getting properly removed during previous cleanings plus the almost 3 months of normal buildup on top of that. Review the before and after fire pictures to see what hidden dangers are out there and why everyone must be educated and diligent on the dangers of grease buildup and negligent/partial cleanings. The lack of accountability along with excuses from kitchen exhaust cleaning companies doing this type of work eventually leads to this outcome. If your Solid Fuel system looks like these before pictures, it needs to be cleaned immediately as this is an buildup that can sustain a fire. Also shown are pictures of the new replacement fan after 2-3 weeks operation showing normal buildup at that point.

Fan showing heavy buildup 24 hours prior to fire