Emergency Appliance Repair

An appliance repair emergency could be a leak or smoke or even flames coming from the household appliance.

In the event of an appliance emergency in your home, unplug the appliance right away and call Vaughn’s Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in CITY. If there’s an electrical fire happening with one of the large or small appliances inside of your home, we advise calling the city fire department before you try to extinguish the fire on your own.

An electrical fire from an appliance is scary and very dangerous, but there are a few steps to be prepared in the event of an emergency. If an electrical appliance goes up in flames, it’s important to not panic. Follow our easy guidelines below to help keep your home safe from electrical fires.

PREVENTING ELECTRICAL FIRES

You are able to stop electrical fires before they start by following some simple rules of appliance safety. Don’t plug more than two devices into a single electrical outlet—the wiring might get overloaded and spark a fire, especially if there’s debris like clothes or paper nearby the outlet.

It can be easy to forget about the apparent dangers of larger appliances because they remain plugged in all of the time, but they present as much of a fire hazard as small electrical devices like kitchen toasters and space heaters. Larger appliances like a dishwasher or washing machine should not be left to run overnight or any time you’re not at home, and try not to place a refrigerator or freezer in direct sunlight, in order to prevent possibly overworking the cooling systems inside.

Inspect all of the outlets on a regular basis for excessive heat, burn marks, and buzzing or crackling noises that might point to electrical arcing. Be sure you store at least one working smoke detector on every story 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 might be tempting to douse the flames with water, but water should not be used to put out an electrical fire.

Water will conduct electricity, and dumping water on a power source might give a severe electrical shock. It could even make the fire worse. Water could conduct electricity to other areas of the room, running the chance of igniting more flammable items in the area.

HOW TO EXTINGUISH AN ELECTRICAL FIRE

The immediate thing you should do is to unplug the appliance from the power outlet and call the fire department. Even if you are able to handle the fire yourself, it is important to have backup if the flames do get out of control.

For little fires, you could be able to use baking soda to extinguish the flames. Covering the smoldering or burning area with baking soda can prohibit oxygen flow to the fire with minimal risk of electrocution. Baking soda contains sodium bicarbonate, which is the same substance used in regulation fire extinguishers. You could be able to extinguish a small fire using a heavy blanket, but only if the flames are 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 extinguisher in your house. Extinguishers need to be checked regularly to ensure they have not expired. If there’s a operational fire extinguisher in the home, release the pin near the top, point the nozzle at the flames, and press the handle. If the fire gets too dangerous to fight by yourself or you think the fire could block an exit, leave the home right away, close the door behind you, and wait for assistance from the local fire department.

For the small appliance fires, call Vaughn’s Appliance Repair once the flames are under control and we will identify the cause of the fire and repair the electrical appliance and return it to its original condition.

OTHER RESOURCES:

Appliance Repair Cost
Appliance Repair Tips
Appliance Safety Tips
Repair or Replace Appliances
Refrigerator Parts