An appliance repair emergency could be a leak or smoke or even a fire coming from the home appliance.
In the event of an appliance emergency in your house, unplug the appliance immediately and call Pride Vacaville Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in Vacaville. If there’s an electrical fire involving one of the appliances inside your home, we recommend calling the fire department before you attempt to extinguish the fire on your own.
An electrical fire can be very scary and very dangerous, but there are a couple of steps to be prepared in the event of an emergency. If one of your appliances is in flames, it is very important to not panic. Follow our simple guidelines below to help keep your home safe from electrical appliance fires.
HOW TO PREVENT ELECTRICAL FIRES
You are able to stop electrical fires before they start by following a couple of simple guidelines for appliance safety. Don’t plug a lot of devices into one electrical outlet—the wiring can become overloaded and then spark a fire, especially if there’s debris like paper or clothes nearby the electrical outlet.
Sometimes we forget about the dangers of larger residential appliances because they stay plugged in all of the time, but they present as much of a fire hazard as smaller devices like toasters and heaters. Larger appliances like a washing machine or dishwasher shouldn’t be left to run overnight or any time you’re not at home, and don’t keep a freezer or refrigerator in line of direct sunlight, to prevent possibly overworking the cooling systems inside.
Check all of the outlets regularly for extreme heat, burns, and buzzing or crackling sounds that could indicate electrical arcing. Be sure you keep at least one working smoke detector on each floor of your home, and test the smoke detectors often to keep them in working order.
WHAT NOT TO DO
If there’s an appliance repair emergency such as an electrical fire, it can be tempting to douse the fire with water, but water should never be used to douse an electrical fire.
Water will conduct electricity, and pouring water on a power source can cause a dangerous electrical shock. It could even make the fire worse. Water could conduct the electricity to other parts of the room, increasing the risk of igniting more flammable objects nearby.
HOW TO PUT OUT AN ELECTRICAL FIRE
The immediate step you should do is unplug the device from the power outlet and call the fire department. Even if you think you might be able to extinguish the fire by yourself, it’s a good idea to have backup if the flames do get out of hand.
For smaller fires, you might be able to use baking soda to smother the fire. Covering the smoking or burning area with baking soda can prevent oxygen flow to the flames with minimal risk of electrocution. Baking soda contains sodium bicarbonate, which is the same chemical in regulation fire extinguishers. You may be able to put out a smaller fire using 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 have at least one Type C or multi-use fire extinguisher in your house. Extinguishers should also be inspected consistently to ensure they haven’t expired. If there’s a operational extinguisher in the home, just release the pin near the top, point the nozzle at the source of the flames, and squeeze the handle. If the fire gets too dangerous to fight alone or you are concerned the fire may block an exit, you should leave the home as fast as possible, close the door behind you, and wait for help from the local fire department.
For the smaller appliance fires, call Pride Vacaville Appliance Repair once the fire is extinguished and we will identify the cause of the fire and repair the appliance and restore it to its original condition.
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