Depot fire blamed on dirty flue

A lack of cleaning of kitchen flues may have contributed to the fire that caused extensive damage to celebrity chef Al Brown's high-profile Auckland restaurant.

The kitchen of Depot, at 86 Federal St, was extensively damaged in a fire on April 9 that saw hundreds evacuated from office buildings in downtown Auckland.

Auckland Council inspection manager Tim Weight looked at the building after the fire and said the problem was probably the lack of cleaning of the flue.

It was the restaurant's responsibility to clean the flue regularly and an independent agency was employed by the building owner to inspect it annually, a council representative said.

The restaurant also had sprinklers installed as well as fire and smoke detectors.

Fire Service risk management officer Lynda McHugh said a lack of cleaning in the flue could be a common cause of fires in commercial kitchens.

Cleaning could be needed as regularly as every six months depending on the size of the kitchen and the ventilation system installed, Ms McHugh said.

"If they don't clean it or if it has filters and they're not cleaned, then it gets a buildup of fat and oils and food. Often under that is oil or whatever they're cooking in. A lot of the time it's live fire and can easily just ignite all that oil and fat in the flue."

A Fire Service spokesman said it was important to ensure flues were kept clean at all times.

"You are going to get buildup of grease so you need to have regular maintenance of those [flues] - that's probably a health requirement as much as anything else."

Craig Lovie, manager of the French Cafe in Auckland, said they had a variety of fire extinguishers and fire blankets on hand in the kitchen. However, it was also important to ensure the flue was kept clean.

Calls to Depot went unanswered and, when approached in person, a manager said they declined to comment at this stage.