Emergency Appliance Repair

A typical appliance repair emergency might be a leak or smoke or even flames coming from the household appliance.

If an appliance emergency arises in your home, unplug the appliance right away and then call Factory Appliance Repair for local appliance repair. If there is an electrical fire involving one of the large or small appliances inside of your house, we suggest calling the city fire department before attempting to eliminate the fire by yourself.

An electrical fire from an appliance is 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 not to panic. Follow our easy guidelines to keep your home safe from electrical appliance fires.

HOW TO PREVENT ELECTRICAL FIRES

You are able to prevent electrical fires before they start by following some basic guidelines for appliance safety. Be sure not to plug in too many devices into a single outlet—the wiring might become overloaded and spark a fire, especially when there is debris like clothes or paper near the outlet.

Sometimes we forget about the apparent dangers of large household appliances because they stay plugged in all the time, but they still present as much of a fire hazard as smaller electrical devices like toasters and heaters. Larger appliances like a dishwasher or washing machine should not be left running overnight or while you’re away from home, and do not keep a refrigerator or freezer in direct sunlight, to prevent overworking their cooling systems.

Inspect all of the outlets regularly for extreme heat, burn marks, and buzzing or crackling noises that could point to electrical arcing. Make sure you store at least one working smoke detector on every floor of your home, and test the smoke detectors regularly 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 douse the flames with water, however water shouldn’t be used on an electrical fire.

Water can conduct electricity, and dumping water on or near a power source can cause a dangerous electrical shock. It could even make the fire worse. Water could conduct electricity to other parts of the room, increasing the risk of igniting other flammable items nearby.

HOW TO EXTINGUISH AN ELECTRICAL FIRE

The immediate step you want to do is unplug the electric device from the power outlet and call your fire department. Even if you might be 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 pour on baking soda to smother the flames. Covering the smoking or burning spot with baking soda can prevent oxygen flow to the flames with minimal risk of electrocution. Baking soda also includes sodium bicarbonate, which is the same chemical in standard fire extinguishers. You also may be able to put out a smaller fire with a heavy blanket as well, but only if the fire is small enough to not catch the heavy blanket on fire.

For large electrical appliance fires, you need a Type C fire extinguisher. You should make sure you own at least one Type C extinguisher in your home. Extinguishers need to be checked regularly to make sure they are not expired. If there’s a working fire extinguisher on hand, just pull the pin at the top, aim the nozzle at the source of the flames, and press the handle. If the flames get too big to put out alone or you are concerned the fire might block an exit, you should leave the house as fast as possible, shut the door behind you, and then wait for help from the fire department.

For the small appliance fires, call Factory Appliance Repair once the fire is 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
Repair or Replace Appliances
Refrigerator Parts