Emergency Appliance Repair

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

In the event of an appliance emergency in your house, unplug the appliance immediately and call Leading Yuma Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in Yuma. If there’s an electrical fire resulting from one of the large or small appliances inside of your house, we suggest calling the fire department before attempting to extinguish the fire on your own.

An electrical fire from an appliance is very scary and very dangerous, but there are a couple of steps to be prepared in case of an emergency. If one of your appliances goes up in flames, it’s very important to not panic and remain calm. Follow these easy guidelines below to keep your house safe from electrical fires.

HOW TO PREVENT ELECTRICAL FIRES

You are able to stop electrical fires before they start by following a couple of basic guidelines for appliance safety. Do not plug more than two devices into a single outlet—the wiring might get overloaded and spark a fire, especially when there’s clutter like clothes or paper nearby the electrical outlet.

It can be easy to forget about the apparent dangers of large household appliances because they remain plugged in all the time, but they can present as much chance for a fire hazard as small appliances like toasters and heaters. Larger appliances like a dishwasher or washing machine should not be left to run overnight or any time you are not at home, and try not to keep a refrigerator or freezer in direct sunlight, to prevent overworking their cooling systems.

Examine all of the outlets regularly for excessive heat, burns, and crackling or buzzing noises that could point to electrical arcing. Make sure you keep at least one smoke detector on each floor of your house, and test the smoke detectors quarterly to keep them in working condition.

WHAT TO NOT DO

If there is an appliance repair emergency involving an electrical fire, it can be tempting to put out the flames with water, but water shouldn’t be used to fight an electrical appliance fire.

Water can conduct electricity, and throwing water on a power source can give a severe electrical shock. It might even make the fire stronger. Water could conduct the electricity to other parts of the room, running the chance of igniting more flammable items nearby.

HOW TO EXTINGUISH AN ELECTRICAL FIRE

The first thing you want to do is to unplug the appliance from the power source and call the local fire department. Even if you can take care of the fire on your own, it’s a good idea to have backup if the flames do get out of hand.

For minor fires, you may be able to pour on baking soda to smother the fire. Covering the fuming or burning spot with a layer of baking soda will sometimes prevent oxygen flow to the flames with minimal chance of electrocution. Baking soda includes sodium bicarbonate, which is the chemical used in standard fire extinguishers. You also could be able to extinguish a small fire with a heavy blanket as well, but only when the flames are small enough not to catch the heavy blanket on fire.

For larger electrical fires, use a Type C fire extinguisher. You should be sure you have at least one Type C or multi-use extinguisher in your house. Extinguishers need to be checked often to make sure they aren’t expired. If you have a operational extinguisher in the home, pull the pin at the top, aim the nozzle at the source of the flames, and press the handle. If the fire gets too big to put out by yourself or you think the fire might block an exit, leave the home immediately, close the door behind you, and wait for help from the fire department.

For the small appliance fires, call Leading Yuma Appliance Repair once the flames are under control and we can identify the reason for the fire and repair the appliance and restore it to its original condition.

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Appliance Safety
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