Shreveport Fire Department Shuts Down Local Restaurant

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UPDATE:  Owner management of IHOP on Youree Drive reached out to KEEL News on Wednesday with the concern that information in the story was innacurate. The IHOP representative, who asked not to be indentified, told KEEL News that the location was never shut down.

They stated this location is locally owned, and the owners were out of town, and that the Manager on Duty was unfamiliar with the NFPA regulations.  But when the owners returned and were made aware of the problem, (with the Fire Supression System in the kitchen), the problem was corrected immediately.

Editorial Note:  I think it's important to recognize the shut down order was due to NFPA regulations, not Health Department, or food safety regulations. The concern from the fire department was for public and employee safety, not related to food preparation, or kitchen cleanliness concerns.

Shreveport Fire Chief Clarence Reese Jr. told KEEL News on Wednesday that he had to shut down a couple of local businesses due to National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) violations.

Shreveport Fire Department Safety Inspection officials found that the kitchen fire-suppression system at the IHOP on Youree Drive wasn't functioning properly. Chief Reese Jr. told KEEL News the business had opportunities to correct the situation, but hadn't rectified the issues before the need to close the business for public safety reasons.

 You think about fires that happen in businesses and in homes, the number one cause of fires in businesses and in homes are going to be kitchen fires.  Well, that's a huge kitchen. And when you have that many employees in there, that's highly important to us.  We want to make sure that the citizens and the workers are safe. Fire Chief Clarence Reese Jr.  

But as of Wednesday morning, the business had corrected all issues and reopened without any more problems.

Another business was also instructed to close by the Shreveport Fire Department when Fire officials were notified by a customer of violations at the Family Dollar Store on Bert Kouns at Dean Road.

Fire Prevention Officers went out there and did notice some violations, the store was already aware of the violations that were called in. They closed the store and got some workers to make sure that they got the store ready.

Chief Reese said the violations included:

Exit doors were blocked with merchandise, you couldn't exit the inventory room because of overflow of inventory, aisles were blocked.  there were just several violations that actually put citizens and employees at risk.   Of course we want to take everyone's safety into account when we do these inspections.

 

If you notice any unsafe situations in a local business, Chief Reese said ask to speak with the store manager.  You can also contact the Shreveport Fire Department at 318 673-6740.