Note
Fire Extinguisher Cabinets for Food Trucks and Commissaries
Class K plus ABC, mounted where the code wants them and wipeable at the end of a shift. Which Cato tub takes a 6 litre wet chemical unit.
A mobile kitchen and a shared commissary have the same two problems: there are two extinguishers to keep mounted, not one, and every surface gets covered in aerosolized grease by the end of service.
Two units, two hazards
Class K for the cooking media. NFPA 99 16.10.1.2 requires Class K extinguishers for hazards where there is a potential for a fire involving combustible cooking media — vegetable or animal oils and fats — and notes it gives the same information as NFPA 10. Class K extinguishers use a low-pH potassium acetate solution discharged as a fine mist, which gives good range without splashing and lays down a saponification foam blanket over the liquid.
ABC for everything else. Paper, packaging, the electrical panel, the generator bay.
Which cabinet takes the Class K
This is where most orders go wrong. A 6 litre wet chemical unit is a fat cylinder:
| Extinguisher | Height | Body |
|---|---|---|
| Strike First SF-6LK | 21-1/2" | 7-1/8" |
| Amerex C260 (6 L) | 19" | 7" |
| JL Industries Saturn 15 (FK15C, 6 L) | 19-1/4" | 7" |
Against the Cato tubs, only two cabinets clear all three:
- 105-20 (9" x 26" x 8") — takes all of them
- Warrior 95-10 (9" x 23" x 7") — takes the Amerex C260 and the JL Saturn 15; the Strike First SF-6LK is 7-1/8 in. across, which is wider than the 7 in. tub
The 105-10, the Warrior 95-5 and the semi-recessed 405-10 do not take a 6 litre Class K. The larger 2.5 gallon units — Amerex C262, JL Saturn 25 — need the 105-20 and nothing smaller.
For the ABC unit alongside it, a 5 lb fits every Cato tub and a 10 lb fits the 105-10, the Warrior 95-10, the 105-20 or the semi-recessed 405-10.
Mounting height
Two rules, both in play:
- NFPA 10 / IBC — the top of an extinguisher up to 40 lb gross sits no more than 5 ft above the floor. Every unit above is comfortably under 40 lb gross.
- ADA — where the cabinet is in a circulation path, the handle sits no higher than 48 in. above finished floor, and it must be operable with one hand, without tight grasping, pinching or twisting of the wrist, and with no more than 5 lb of force.
In a truck the 48 in. limit rarely applies, but the 5 ft line and the "conspicuous location, ready access, along normal paths of travel" requirement from IFC 906.5 always do.
Why plastic in a kitchen
The cabinet gets wiped down every night and hosed periodically. A molded polystyrene tub does not rust at the seams the way a painted steel box does, and the red is molded through rather than sprayed on. Cato's cleaning instruction is a mild solution of detergent and water, rinsed well — worth putting on the closing checklist, because kitchen degreasers will craze acrylic over time.
The Warrior is the easy pick for a truck: no key to lose in a moving vehicle, a cover that lifts off in one motion, and obvious tamper evidence from the plastic seal. Keep a strip of seals, part 95505, in the glovebox. The Chief with a stainless break bar suits a fixed commissary wall where a locking trim is expected.
Small things that help
- 10300 rust prevention tray — air under the cylinder in a humid kitchen. 5 and 10 lb only.
- CL-423 "Kitchen Suppression" decal — Cato sells it separately.
- CL-422 "Extinguisher Missing" decal for the back of the tub, so an empty cabinet reads as a problem rather than as decor.
- Cato's guide 14I-120 asks for four fasteners, two into framing. In a truck that means into structure, not into skin.