A typical appliance repair emergency might be a leak or smoke or even flames coming from the household appliance.
If an appliance emergency arises, unplug the appliance immediately and then call Lancaster Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in California. If there is an electrical fire resulting from one of the appliances inside of your home, we recommend calling the fire department even before you try to extinguish the fire yourself.
An electrical fire can be very scary and extremely dangerous, but there are a few ways to be prepared in the event of an emergency. If one of your appliances goes up in flames, it’s important to not panic and remain calm. Follow these easy guidelines below to keep your house safe from electrical fires.
Homeowners can stop electrical fires before they start by following a couple of basic rules of appliance safety. Don’t plug more than two devices into a single outlet—the wiring might get overloaded and spark a fire, especially when there is clutter like paper or clothes close to the outlet.
It can be easy to forget about the dangers of larger residential appliances since they remain plugged in all the time, but they still present as much of a fire hazard as smaller devices like kitchen toasters and heaters. Larger appliances like a washing machine or dishwasher should not be left to run overnight or while you’re not at home, and don’t place a refrigerator or freezer in line of direct sunlight, to prevent overworking the cooling systems.
Check all outlets on a regular basis for excessive heat, burn marks, and crackling or buzzing sounds that could point to electrical arcing. Make sure you keep at least one smoke detector on each story of your house, and test the smoke detectors quarterly to keep them in working condition.
If there’s an appliance repair emergency involving an electrical fire, it might be tempting to douse the fire with water, however water shouldn’t be used on an electrical fire.
Water will conduct electricity, and pouring water on a power source can give a dangerous electrical shock. It might even make the fire stronger. Water might conduct the electricity to other parts of the room, increasing the risk of igniting other flammable items in the area.
The immediate step you want to do is to unplug the electric device from the power outlet and call your fire department. Even if you think you can extinguish the fire by yourself, it’s a good idea to have help if the flames do get out of hand.
For minor fires, you could be able to pour on baking soda to smother the flames. Covering the fuming or burning area with baking soda will sometimes block oxygen flow to the flames with very little risk of electrocution. Baking soda includes sodium bicarbonate, which is the substance in regulation fire extinguishers. You also may be able to extinguish a smaller fire using a heavy blanket as well, but only when the flames are small enough not to catch the heavy blanket on fire too.
For big electrical fires, you need a Type C fire extinguisher. You should be sure you own at least one Type C fire extinguisher in your house. Extinguishers need to be inspected regularly to ensure they have not expired. If you have a operational fire extinguisher on hand, just release the pin at the top, point the nozzle at the source of the flames, and squeeze the handle. If the fire gets too dangerous to put out alone or you are concerned the fire could block an exit, you should leave the house as fast as possible, close the door behind you, and wait for assistance from the fire department.
For the smaller appliance fires, call Lancaster Appliance Repair once the flames are extinguished and we will identify the reason for the fire and repair the electrical appliance and restore it to working order.
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