A typical appliance repair emergency could be a leak or smoke or even flames coming from the appliance.
If an appliance emergency arises in your house, unplug the appliance right away and then call Reliable Redding Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in Redding. If there’s an electrical fire happening with one of the appliances in your home, we recommend calling the town fire department even before you try to eliminate the fire by yourself.
An electrical fire is very scary and extremely dangerous, but there are a couple of steps to be prepared in the event of an emergency. If one of your appliances goes up in flames, it’s very important to not panic. Follow our easy guidelines below to keep your house safe from electrical appliance fires.
PREVENTING ELECTRICAL FIRES
Homeowners are able to stop electrical fires before they start by following a couple of simple rules of appliance safety. Be careful not to plug in more than two electrical devices into one outlet—the wiring might become overloaded and spark a fire, especially when there’s clutter like paper or clothes near the electrical outlet.
It can be easy to forget about the apparent dangers of larger home appliances because they remain plugged in all of the time, but they still present as much of a fire hazard as smaller devices like kitchen toasters and heaters. Larger appliances like a dishwasher or washing machine shouldn’t be left running overnight or any time you are not at home, and try not to place a freezer or refrigerator in direct sunlight, in order to prevent possibly overworking their cooling systems.
Check all outlets on a regular basis for excessive heat, burn marks, and crackling or buzzing noises that could point to electrical arcing. Make sure you keep at least one working smoke detector on each floor of your house, and test them regularly to keep them in good working condition.
WHAT NOT TO DO
If there’s an appliance repair emergency such as an electrical fire, it could be tempting to douse the fire with water, but water shouldn’t be used to douse an electrical fire.
Water can conduct electricity, and pouring water on or near a power source could cause a harmful electrical shock. It might even make the fire stronger. Water could conduct the electricity to additional locations of the room, running the risk of igniting more flammable items nearby.
HOW TO PUT OUT AN ELECTRICAL FIRE
The immediate step you need to do is unplug the electric appliance from the power outlet and call the local fire department. Even if you think you can handle the fire yourself, it is a good idea to have help if the flames do get out of hand.
For little fires, you might be able to pour on baking soda to smother the flames. Covering the smoking or burning area with baking soda can block oxygen flow to the fire with little chance of electrocution. Baking soda includes sodium bicarbonate, which is the substance in standard fire extinguishers. You also may be able to put out a smaller fire with a heavy blanket, but only if the flames are small enough not to catch the blanket on fire.
For big electrical fires, use a Type C fire extinguisher. You should be sure you own at least one Type C or multi-use fire extinguisher in your home. Extinguishers should also be checked often to be sure they aren’t expired. If you have a operational extinguisher on hand, pull the pin near the top, point the nozzle at the fire, and squeeze the handle. If the fire gets too big to fight alone or you think the fire may block an exit, you should leave the home immediately, shut the door , and then wait for help from the fire department.
For the smaller appliance fires, call Reliable Redding Appliance Repair once the flames are under control and we can diagnose the reason for the fire and repair the electrical appliance and restore it to working order.
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