A typical appliance repair emergency could be a leak or smoke or even a fire coming from the home appliance.
In the event of an appliance emergency, unplug the appliance immediately and call Old Town Orange Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in Orange. If there’s an electrical fire resulting from one of the large or small appliances inside your house, we advise calling the fire department before you try to put out the fire yourself.
An electrical fire can be very scary and extremely dangerous, but there are a few steps to be prepared in the event of an emergency. If one of your appliances is in flames, it is important not to panic. Follow our easy guidelines below to help keep your house safe from electrical appliance fires.
Homeowners can stop electrical fires before they start by following a couple of simple guidelines for appliance safety in a home. Be careful not to plug in more than two devices into a single electrical outlet—the wiring can get overloaded and then spark a fire, especially when there is debris like clothes or paper nearby the electrical outlet.
Sometimes we forget about the dangers of large home appliances since they remain plugged in all the time, but they still present as much chance for a fire hazard as small appliances like toasters and heaters. Large appliances like a dishwasher or washing machine should not be left to run overnight or any time you are not at home, and do not keep a refrigerator or freezer in direct sunlight, to prevent overworking the cooling systems.
Examine all of the outlets regularly for extreme heat, signs of burns, and crackling or buzzing sounds that might indicate electrical arcing. Make sure you store at least one working smoke detector on each story of your house, and test them quarterly to keep them in working order.
If there is an appliance repair emergency such as an electrical fire, it could be tempting to douse the fire with water, however water shouldn’t be used to put out an electrical appliance fire.
Water will conduct electricity, and dumping water on or near a power source could give a severe electrical shock. It could even make the fire worse. Water could conduct electricity to other parts of the room, running the chance of igniting other flammable items nearby.
The immediate step you need to do is unplug the electric device from the power outlet and call your fire department. Even if you think you might be able to extinguish the fire by yourself, it is important to have backup if the flames do get out of hand.
For small fires, you might be able to pour on baking soda to extinguish the fire. Covering the smoking or burning spot with baking soda will sometimes block oxygen flow to the fire with very little chance of electrocution. Baking soda contains sodium bicarbonate, which is the same chemical used in regulation fire extinguishers. You also could be able to put out a smaller fire with a heavy blanket as well, but only if the flames are small enough to not catch the blanket on fire too.
For big electrical appliance fires, use a Type C fire extinguisher. You should make sure you own at least one Type C or multi-use fire extinguisher in your home. Extinguishers should also be checked often to ensure they aren’t expired. If you have a operational fire extinguisher on hand, just release the pin near the top, point the nozzle at the flames, and press the handle. If the flames get too dangerous to put out alone or you think the fire could block an exit, leave the home as fast as possible, close the door behind you, and wait for assistance from the fire department.
For the smaller appliance fires, call Old Town Orange Appliance Repair once the fire is extinguished and we can identify the reason for the fire and repair the appliance and restore it to working order.
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