An appliance repair emergency could be a leak or smoke or even flames coming from the appliance.
In the event of an appliance emergency in your home, unplug the appliance right away and call Rapid Richmond Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in Richmond. If there is an electrical fire happening with one of the large or small appliances inside your house, we recommend calling the fire department before you attempt to eliminate the fire on your own.
An electrical fire from an appliance is scary and extremely dangerous, but there are a couple of steps to be prepared in case of an emergency. If an appliance is in flames, it’s very important to not panic. Follow our easy guidelines to help keep your home safe from electrical fires.
HOW TO PREVENT ELECTRICAL FIRES
You can stop electrical fires from starting by following a few basic rules of appliance safety in a home. Be sure not to plug in too many devices into one outlet—the wiring can get overloaded and spark a fire, especially if there’s debris like clothes or paper nearby the outlet.
Sometimes we forget about the apparent dangers of larger home appliances because they remain plugged in all of the time, but they present as much of a fire hazard as smaller electrical appliances like toasters and heaters. Larger appliances like a dishwasher or washing machine shouldn’t be left running overnight or while you are away from home, and try not to keep a refrigerator or freezer in direct sunlight, in order to prevent overworking the cooling systems.
Inspect all of the outlets regularly for extreme heat, burn marks, and crackling or buzzing sounds that might point to electrical arcing. Make sure you have at least one smoke detector on each story of your house, and test them regularly to keep them in working condition.
WHAT TO NOT DO
If there is an appliance repair emergency such as an electrical fire, it could be tempting to put out the flames with water, but water shouldn’t be used on an electrical fire.
Water will conduct electricity, and pouring water on or near a power source can cause a severe electrical shock. It might even make the fire stronger. Water could conduct electricity to additional areas of the room, increasing the chance of igniting more flammable objects in the area.
HOW TO EXTINGUISH AN ELECTRICAL FIRE
The immediate thing you should do is unplug the device from the power outlet and call your local fire department. Even if you think you are able to handle the fire by yourself, it is important to have backup if the flames do get out of hand.
For smaller fires, you could be able to use baking soda to douse the fire. Covering the smoldering or burning spot with baking soda will sometimes prohibit oxygen flow to the flames with minimal chance of electrocution. Baking soda includes sodium bicarbonate, which is the substance used in regulation 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 not to catch the heavy blanket on fire as well.
For large electrical fires, use a Type C fire extinguisher. You should always make sure you own at least one Type C or multi-use fire extinguisher in your house. Extinguishers need to be checked regularly to ensure they aren’t expired. If there is a working fire extinguisher on hand, pull the pin near the top, point the nozzle at the fire, and press the handle. If the flames get too dangerous to fight by yourself or you think the fire could block an exit, you should leave the house as fast as possible, close the door , and wait for help from the fire department.
For the small appliance fires, call Rapid Richmond Appliance Repair once the fire is extinguished and we can diagnose the cause of the fire and repair the appliance and restore it to working order.
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