A typical appliance repair emergency might be a leak or smoke or even flames coming from the home appliance.
If an appliance emergency happens in your home, unplug the appliance immediately and then call Express Centreville Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in Centreville. If there is an electrical fire resulting from one of the appliances inside your house, we suggest calling the city fire department before you try to put out 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 goes up in flames, it’s important to not panic and to remain calm. Follow our easy guidelines to help keep your house safe from electrical appliance fires.
Homeowners are able to stop electrical fires before they start by following some simple rules of appliance safety in a home. Don’t plug in a lot of electrical devices into one electrical outlet—the wiring might become overloaded and spark a fire, especially if there is clutter like clothes or paper nearby the outlet.
It can be easy to forget about the dangers of larger residential appliances because they remain plugged in all of the time, but they can present as much of a fire hazard as smaller appliances like kitchen toasters and heaters. Larger appliances like a washing machine or dishwasher should not be left running overnight or while you’re away from home, and do not keep a refrigerator or freezer in direct sunlight, in order to prevent overworking the cooling systems.
Inspect all of the outlets regularly for extreme heat, signs of burns, and crackling or buzzing noises that might indicate electrical arcing. Be sure you keep at least one working smoke detector on every floor of your house, and test the smoke detectors quarterly to keep them in good working condition.
If there is an appliance repair emergency such as an electrical fire, it might be tempting to put out the flames with water, however water should never be used to fight an electrical fire.
Water will conduct electricity, and throwing water on or near a power source can cause a harmful electrical shock. It might even make the fire stronger. Water might conduct electricity to other locations of the room, running the risk of igniting other flammable items nearby.
The immediate thing you should do is to unplug the device from the power source and call your local fire department. Even if you might be able to extinguish the fire by yourself, it’s important to have help if the flames do get out of hand.
For smaller fires, you might be able to pour on baking soda to extinguish the flames. Covering the smoking or burning area with baking soda can block oxygen flow to the flames with little chance of electrocution. Baking soda includes sodium bicarbonate, which is the substance used in regulation fire extinguishers. You also could be able to smother a small fire with a heavy blanket, but only if the flames are small enough to not catch the blanket on fire.
For big electrical fires, you need a Type C fire extinguisher. You should always make sure you own at least one Type C or multi-use fire extinguisher in your house. Extinguishers need to be inspected regularly to make sure they are not expired. If there is a operational extinguisher in the home, pull the pin at the top, aim the nozzle at the flames, and press the handle. If the flames get too big to fight alone or you think the fire may block an exit, leave the house right away, close the door behind you, and then wait for help from the fire department.
For the small appliance fires, call Express Centreville Appliance Repair once the flames are extinguished and we will identify the reason for the fire and repair the appliance and restore it to its original condition.
OTHER RESOURCES:
Appliance Repair Cost
Appliance Repair Tips
Appliance Safety
Repair or Replace Appliances
Refrigerator Parts
Copyright ©2024 Express Centreville Appliance Repair