An appliance repair emergency could be a leak or smoke or even flames coming from the household appliance.
If an appliance emergency arises in your house, unplug the appliance immediately and call L&G San Diego Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in San Diego. If there’s an electrical fire happening with one of the appliances inside your home, we suggest calling the city fire department even before you attempt to extinguish the fire yourself.
An electrical fire from an appliance can be scary and extremely dangerous, but there are a few ways to be prepared in case of an emergency. If one of your appliances goes up in flames, it is very important to not panic. Follow these simple guidelines below to keep your home safe from electrical appliance fires.
Homeowners are able to stop electrical fires before they start by following a few basic rules of appliance safety in a home. Be sure not to plug in a lot of electrical devices into a single outlet—the wiring can get overloaded and spark a fire, especially if there’s clutter like paper or clothes nearby the electrical outlet.
Sometimes we forget about the dangers of larger residential appliances since they remain plugged in all the time, but they can present as much chance for a fire hazard as small electrical devices like kitchen toasters and space 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 don’t keep a refrigerator or freezer in line of direct sunlight, in order to prevent overworking the cooling systems inside.
Examine all of the outlets regularly for extreme heat, burns, and buzzing or crackling noises that might point to electrical arcing. Be sure you keep at least one working smoke detector on every story of your house, and test the smoke detectors often to keep them in working condition.
If there’s an appliance repair emergency such as an electrical fire, it can be tempting to douse the fire with water, however water should never be used to douse an electrical appliance fire.
Water can conduct electricity, and dumping water on a power source can give a severe electrical shock. It might even make the fire even worse. Water could conduct electricity to other areas of the room, running the risk of igniting other flammable objects in the area.
The first step you need to do is unplug the appliance from the power source and call your fire department. Even if you think you might be able to handle the fire by yourself, it’s important to have backup if the flames do get out of control.
For smaller fires, you could be able to pour on baking soda to douse the flames. Covering the smoldering or burning spot with baking soda will sometimes prohibit oxygen flow to the fire with little chance of electrocution. Baking soda contains sodium bicarbonate, which is the same substance in standard fire extinguishers. You also may be able to smother a smaller fire using a heavy blanket as well, but only when the fire is small enough to not catch the heavy 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 fire extinguisher in your house. Extinguishers need to be checked consistently to ensure they aren’t expired. If there’s a working extinguisher on hand, release the pin near the top, point the hose at the source of the fire, and press the handle. If the flames get too big to put out by yourself or you think the fire may block an exit, leave the home immediately, shut the door behind you, and then wait for assistance from the fire department.
For the small appliance fires, call L&G San Diego Appliance Repair once the flames are extinguished and we can identify the reason for the fire and repair the appliance and return it to working order.
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