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 house, unplug the appliance immediately and then call Lee’s Summit Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in Lee’s Summit. If there’s an electrical fire involving one of the appliances in your home, we advise calling the local fire department before attempting to extinguish the fire by yourself.
An electrical fire can be very scary and extremely dangerous, but there are a couple of ways to be prepared in the event of an emergency. If an appliance is in flames, it’s important not to panic and to remain calm. Follow these easy guidelines below to keep your home safe from electrical appliance fires.
HOW TO PREVENT ELECTRICAL FIRES
You are able to stop electrical fires from ever starting by following a couple of basic guidelines for appliance safety. Don’t plug more than two electrical devices into one outlet—the wiring can get overloaded and then spark a fire, especially when there is debris like paper or clothes near the electrical outlet.
It can be easy to forget about the apparent dangers of larger household appliances because they stay plugged in all the time, but they present as much chance for a fire hazard as smaller devices like kitchen toasters and space heaters. Large appliances like a washing machine or dishwasher shouldn’t be left to run overnight or while you’re away from home, and don’t keep a freezer or refrigerator in direct sunlight, in order to prevent possibly overworking their cooling systems inside.
Inspect all of the outlets on a regular basis for extreme heat, signs of burns, and crackling or buzzing sounds that could point to electrical arcing. Make sure you keep at least one working smoke detector on each story of your house, and test the smoke detectors often to keep them in working condition.
WHAT NOT TO DO
If there is an appliance repair emergency involving an electrical fire, it might be tempting to put out the flames with water, but water shouldn’t be used to douse an electrical appliance fire.
Water conducts electricity, and throwing water on or near a power source could cause a dangerous electrical shock. It could even make the fire worse. Water might conduct electricity to additional locations of the room, running the risk of igniting more flammable items in the area.
HOW TO PUT OUT AN ELECTRICAL FIRE
The immediate thing you should do is unplug the device from the power source and call the fire department. Even if you might be able to put out the fire on your own, it is important to have backup if the flames do get out of control.
For small fires, you may be able to pour on baking soda to smother the fire. Covering the smoking or burning spot with baking soda will sometimes prevent oxygen flow to the fire with very little risk of electrocution. Baking soda also contains sodium bicarbonate, which is the chemical used in regulation fire extinguishers. You also may be able to extinguish a smaller fire with a heavy blanket as well, but only if the flames are small enough not to catch the heavy blanket on fire.
For large electrical appliance fires, you need a Type C fire extinguisher. You should always make sure you have at least one Type C fire extinguisher in your house. Extinguishers need to be inspected consistently to be sure they have not expired. If there’s a operational extinguisher on hand, pull the pin at the top, aim the hose at the flames, and squeeze the handle. If the flames get too big to fight by yourself or you are concerned the fire might block an exit, leave the home as fast as possible, shut the door , and wait for assistance from the local fire department.
For the smaller appliance fires, call Lee’s Summit Appliance Repair once the flames are under control and we will diagnose the reason for the fire and repair the appliance and return it to working order.
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