Fire Suppression System Saves Toms River Pizza Hut

Fire officials in Toms River say the township's Pizza Hut restaurant was protected by a fire suppression system installed last year when the restaurant had a new deep fat fryer installed in its kitchen.

Several fire companies responded Thursday to a call from the restaurant at 3:25 p.m. reporting a fire in the deep fat fryer. When firefighters from Toms River Fire companies 1 and 2, as well as the Island Heights and East Dover fire companies arrived, it was found that the fire had been extinguished, said Jim Mercready, director of the Toms River Bureau of Fire Prevention.

Mercready said a restaurant employee had activated the wet chemical fire suppression system when the fire broke out, which fully extinguished the would-be blaze.

Restaurant employees were trained in the usage of the suppression system by Fire Inspector Dominick Roselli last year when the system was installed, Mercready said.

The system, on Thursday, kept the fire damage to the deep fryer only, Mercready said, and the building was allowed to be reoccupied after firefighters left the scene. The alarm from the suppression system activated and the building had been successfully evacuated, he added.

The Ocean County Health Department was called to the scene as well, said Mercready.

The restaurant has since reopened and is operating during its normal business hours.