Emergency Appliance Repair

An appliance repair emergency could be a leak or smoke or even flames coming from the household appliance.

In the event of an appliance emergency in your house, unplug the appliance right away and call Buckner Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in CITY. If there is an electrical fire involving one of the appliances in your house, we recommend calling the fire department even before you try to put out the fire yourself.

An electrical fire from an appliance is 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 goes up in flames, it’s important to not panic and to remain calm. Follow these simple guidelines below to keep your home safe from electrical appliance fires.

PREVENTING ELECTRICAL FIRES

You can stop electrical fires before they start by following some simple rules of appliance safety in a home. Be careful not to plug in a lot of electrical devices into a single outlet—the wiring might become overloaded and spark a fire, especially if there’s debris like clothes or paper near the electrical outlet.

Sometimes we forget about the apparent dangers of larger residential appliances since they are plugged in all the time, but they can present as much of a fire hazard as small electrical devices like toasters and space heaters. Large appliances like a dishwasher or washing machine should not be left to run overnight or while you are away from home, and do not place a freezer or refrigerator in direct sunlight, in order to prevent possibly overworking their cooling systems.

Examine all outlets on a regular basis for extreme heat, signs of burns, and crackling or buzzing noises that could indicate electrical arcing. Make sure you keep at least one smoke detector on each floor of your house, and test the smoke detectors regularly to keep them in working order.

WHAT TO NOT DO

If there is an appliance repair emergency involving an electrical fire, it could be tempting to douse the fire with water, but water should never be used on an electrical appliance fire.

Water conducts electricity, and dumping water on or near a power source might cause a severe electrical shock. It could even make the fire stronger. Water could conduct electricity to additional parts of the room, increasing the chance of igniting other flammable objects in the area.

HOW TO EXTINGUISH AN ELECTRICAL FIRE

The first thing you want to do is to unplug the electric appliance from the power outlet and call the local fire department. Even if you think you can extinguish the fire yourself, it’s important to have backup if the fire does get out of control.

For minor fires, you may be able to use baking soda to douse the fire. Covering the fuming or burning spot with baking soda will sometimes prevent oxygen flow to the fire with little chance of electrocution. Baking soda contains sodium bicarbonate, which is the same substance in regulation fire extinguishers. You also could be able to smother a smaller fire with a heavy blanket, but only when the flames are small enough to not catch the blanket on fire too.

For larger electrical fires, use a Type C fire extinguisher. You should always make sure you own at least one Type C extinguisher in your house. Extinguishers need to be inspected regularly to ensure they haven’t expired. If there is a working extinguisher on hand, just release the pin at the top, point the hose at the source of the flames, and squeeze the handle. If the flames get too dangerous to put out by yourself or you are concerned the fire may block an exit, leave the house right away, shut the door , and then wait for assistance from the fire department.

For the smaller appliance fires, call Buckner Appliance Repair once the flames are extinguished and we can diagnose the cause of the fire and repair the appliance and return it to working order.

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Appliance Safety
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