Emergency Appliance Repair

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

In the event of an appliance emergency in your home, unplug the appliance right away and then call Mann Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in CITY. If there’s an electrical fire happening with one of the appliances inside your home, we advise calling the fire department even before attempting to eliminate the fire on your own.

An electrical fire from an appliance can be very scary and extremely dangerous, but there are a few ways to be prepared in the event of an emergency. If one of your appliances is in flames, it’s important not to panic. Follow these simple guidelines below to keep your house safe from electrical appliance fires.

HOW TO PREVENT ELECTRICAL FIRES

You are able to stop electrical fires before they start by following some basic 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 then spark a fire, especially when there’s debris like paper or clothes nearby the outlet.

Sometimes we forget about the apparent dangers of larger appliances because they are plugged in all the time, but they present as much chance for a fire hazard as smaller electrical appliances like kitchen toasters and heaters. Larger appliances like a dishwasher or washing machine should not be left to run overnight or while you’re not at home, and don’t keep a refrigerator or freezer in line of direct sunlight, to prevent possibly overworking their cooling systems inside.

Examine all outlets on a regular basis for excessive heat, burn marks, and buzzing or crackling sounds that might indicate electrical arcing. Be sure you store at least one working smoke detector on each story of your home, and test the smoke detectors regularly to keep them in working order.

WHAT NOT TO DO

If there’s an appliance repair emergency involving an electrical fire, it could be tempting to put out the fire with water, but water shouldn’t be used to douse an electrical fire.

Water conducts electricity, and pouring water on or near a power source might give a dangerous electrical shock. It could even make the fire stronger. Water could conduct electricity to additional parts of the room, running the chance of igniting more flammable items in the area.

HOW TO PUT OUT AN ELECTRICAL FIRE

The immediate step you should do is unplug the appliance from the power outlet and call the local fire department. Even if you think you are able to put out the fire on your own, it’s important to have help if the fire does get out of control.

For little fires, you might be able to use baking soda to extinguish the flames. Covering the smoldering or burning area with baking soda will sometimes prohibit oxygen flow to the fire with very little risk of electrocution. Baking soda contains sodium bicarbonate, which is the chemical in standard fire extinguishers. You also might be able to smother a small fire using a heavy blanket as well, but only when the fire is small enough to not catch the blanket on fire too.

For large 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 inspected often to ensure they aren’t expired. If you have a working extinguisher in the home, just release the pin near the top, aim the hose at the fire, and squeeze the handle. If the fire gets too dangerous to fight alone or you think the fire might block an exit, you should leave the house right away, shut the door behind you, and then wait for assistance from the fire department.

For the small appliance fires, call Mann Appliance Repair once the flames are under control and we will diagnose the reason for the fire and repair the electrical appliance and return it to working order.

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