An appliance repair emergency could be a leak or smoke or even a fire coming from the home appliance.
If an appliance emergency occurs, unplug the appliance immediately and then call Excel Oxnard Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in California. If there is an electrical fire happening with one of the large or small appliances in your home, we recommend calling the fire department before attempting to extinguish the fire on your own.
An electrical fire from an appliance is scary and extremely dangerous, but there are a couple of ways to be prepared in case of an emergency. If an appliance is in flames, it’s very important to not panic. Follow these easy guidelines to keep your house safe from electrical fires.
Homeowners are able to stop electrical fires from starting by following a couple of basic guidelines for appliance safety in a home. Don’t plug in more than two electrical devices into one outlet—the wiring might get overloaded and then spark a fire, especially if there is clutter like paper or clothes nearby the outlet.
It can be easy to forget about the dangers of larger residential appliances because they stay plugged in all of the time, but they can present as much of a fire hazard as small devices like kitchen toasters and space heaters. Larger appliances like a washing machine or dishwasher should not be left running overnight or while you are not at home, and don’t place a refrigerator or freezer in line of direct sunlight, to prevent overworking the cooling systems.
Check all of the outlets on a regular basis for excessive heat, burn marks, and crackling or buzzing noises that could point to electrical arcing. Make sure you keep at least one working smoke detector on each story of your house, and test them regularly to keep them in good working order.
If there is an appliance repair emergency such as an electrical fire, it can be tempting to put out the flames with water, but water should not be used to fight an electrical appliance fire.
Water conducts electricity, and dumping water on a power source might cause a dangerous electrical shock. It could even make the fire even worse. Water can conduct electricity to additional parts of the room, increasing the risk of igniting other flammable items nearby.
The immediate thing you need to do is to unplug the electric appliance from the power outlet and call your local fire department. Even if you can handle the fire yourself, it’s important to have backup if the fire does get out of hand.
For minor fires, you might be able to pour on baking soda to douse the flames. Covering the smoldering or burning area with baking soda will sometimes prohibit oxygen flow to the flames with little risk of electrocution. Baking soda includes sodium bicarbonate, which is the same substance in standard fire extinguishers. You also may be able to extinguish a smaller fire with a heavy blanket, but only when the flames are small enough not to catch the heavy blanket on fire.
For larger electrical appliance fires, use a Type C fire extinguisher. You should be sure you have at least one Type C or multi-use extinguisher in your house. Extinguishers should also be checked often to be sure they aren’t expired. If there’s a working extinguisher on hand, just pull the pin near the top, point the nozzle at the source of the flames, and squeeze the handle. If the fire gets too big to fight by yourself or you are concerned the fire might block an exit, you should leave the house right away, shut the door behind you, and wait for assistance from the fire department.
For the smaller appliance fires, call Excel Oxnard Appliance Repair once the flames are under control and we will identify the reason for the fire and repair the electrical appliance and return it to its original condition.
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