A typical appliance repair emergency might be a leak or smoke or even flames coming from the home appliance.
In the event of an appliance emergency in your home, unplug the appliance right away and then call E&L Coral Gables Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in Coral Gables. If there’s an electrical fire from one of the large or small appliances in your house, we advise calling the town fire department before attempting to eliminate the fire on your own.
An electrical fire 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 is in flames, it is important not to panic. Follow our simple guidelines below to keep your house safe from electrical appliance fires.
You can prevent electrical fires from starting by following some basic guidelines for appliance safety in a home. Be sure not to plug too many devices into a single outlet—the wiring might become overloaded and then spark a fire, especially if there is clutter like clothes or paper near the outlet.
It can be easy to forget about the apparent dangers of large home appliances because they are plugged in all of the time, but they still present as much of a fire hazard as small electrical appliances like kitchen toasters and heaters. Large appliances like a dishwasher or washing machine shouldn’t be left running overnight or any time you are not at home, and don’t place a freezer or refrigerator in line of direct sunlight, to prevent possibly overworking their cooling systems.
Examine all outlets regularly for extreme heat, signs of burns, and crackling or buzzing sounds that could point to electrical arcing. Make sure you store at least one smoke detector on each floor of your house, and test them quarterly to keep them in working condition.
If there is an appliance repair emergency such as an electrical fire, it might be tempting to douse the fire with water, but water shouldn’t be used to douse an electrical appliance fire.
Water can conduct electricity, and pouring water on or near a power source might give a severe electrical shock. It might even make the fire even worse. Water can conduct electricity to other areas of the room, increasing the risk of igniting other flammable objects nearby.
The first step you should do is unplug the electric appliance from the power outlet and call your fire department. Even if you can take care of the fire on your own, it is a good idea to have help if the flames do get out of hand.
For small fires, you might be able to pour on baking soda to extinguish the flames. Covering the fuming or burning area with a layer of baking soda will sometimes prevent oxygen flow to the fire with very little chance of electrocution. Baking soda also contains sodium bicarbonate, which is the chemical in standard fire extinguishers. You may be able to extinguish a smaller fire using a heavy blanket, but only if the fire is small enough to not catch the blanket on fire.
For big electrical appliance fires, use a Type C fire extinguisher. You should always be sure you own at least one Type C fire extinguisher in your home. Extinguishers need to be inspected often to ensure they have not expired. If you have a working extinguisher on hand, release the pin at the top, point the nozzle at the source of the fire, and squeeze the handle. If the flames get too big to fight alone or you are concerned the fire may block an exit, leave the house right away, shut the door behind you, and wait for help from the fire department.
For the small appliance fires, call E&L Coral Gables Appliance Repair once the flames are under control and we will diagnose the reason for the fire and repair the electrical appliance and return it to its original condition.
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