Fire Department personnel responding to an incident where an extractor fan of the Burger King restaurant in Bush Road caught fire on Tuesday morning.
PHILIPSBURG--Reports circulating on social media Tuesday claiming that the Burger King restaurant on Bush Road was on fire have been described as inaccurate by the restaurant's owner, who says the building itself was never threatened and operations continue as normal.
Videos shared online showed smoke emanating from the property, leading some social media users and radio reports to suggest that the fast-food restaurant was ablaze.
However, according to owner Richard Gibson, the smoke did not originate from inside the restaurant and the building was never on fire.
Gibson shared a video with “The Daily Herald” showing smoke coming from an extractor fan mounted on the exterior wall of the building.
An extractor fan is part of a restaurant's ventilation system and is designed to remove heat, smoke, grease-laden air and cooking odours from kitchens. In commercial kitchens, grease can accumulate inside ventilation equipment over time.
Mechanical failure, overheating of electrical components or the ignition of grease deposits can sometimes cause smoke or a small fire in the extractor system without the fire spreading to the building itself.
Gibson stressed that the situation was far less serious than portrayed in some reports. "The hype on social media and radio was Burger King on fire, suggesting a whole different scenario than actually was the case," he said.
