A typical appliance repair emergency could be a leak or smoke or even flames coming from the home appliance.
If an appliance emergency happens in your house, unplug the appliance right away and then call Santa Maria Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in Santa Maria. If there is an electrical fire resulting from one of the appliances inside of your house, we advise calling the fire department even before you attempt to extinguish the fire yourself.
An electrical fire is scary and very dangerous, but there are a couple of ways to be prepared in the event of an emergency. If one of your appliances is in flames, it is important not to panic and remain calm. Follow our simple guidelines to keep your home safe from electrical fires.
PREVENTING ELECTRICAL FIRES
You are able to stop electrical fires from ever starting by following a couple of simple guidelines for appliance safety in a home. Be sure not to plug more than two devices into a single outlet—the wiring might become overloaded and then spark a fire, especially when there is debris like clothes or paper close to 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 chance for a fire hazard as smaller electrical devices like kitchen toasters and heaters. Larger appliances like a washing machine or dishwasher should not be left to run overnight or any time you’re not at home, and do not keep a refrigerator or freezer in direct sunlight, in order to prevent overworking their cooling systems inside.
Check all outlets regularly for excessive heat, burn marks, and buzzing or crackling sounds that could indicate electrical arcing. Be 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 might be tempting to put out the flames with water, however water should never be used on an electrical fire.
Water will conduct electricity, and pouring water on a power source could give a dangerous electrical shock. It might even make the fire worse. Water might conduct electricity to other parts of the room, increasing the risk of igniting more flammable objects in the room.
HOW TO EXTINGUISH AN ELECTRICAL FIRE
The immediate step you need to do is unplug the device from the power source and call your local fire department. Even if you can put out the fire yourself, it is important to have help if the flames do get out of control.
For minor fires, you might be able to pour on baking soda to douse the flames. Covering the fuming or burning area with some baking soda will sometimes prevent oxygen flow to the fire with minimal risk of electrocution. Baking soda also contains sodium bicarbonate, which is the substance used in regulation fire extinguishers. You may be able to put out a smaller fire using a heavy blanket, but only when the flames are small enough to not catch the blanket on fire as well.
For large electrical fires, you need a Type C fire extinguisher. You should be sure you have at least one Type C or multi-use fire extinguisher in your house. Extinguishers need to be checked consistently to ensure they have not expired. If there’s a working fire extinguisher in the home, just pull the pin near the top, aim the nozzle at the source of the flames, and squeeze the handle. If the flames get too dangerous to fight alone or you think the fire might block an exit, you should leave the home right away, close the door , and then wait for assistance from the fire department.
For the small appliance fires, call Santa Maria Appliance Repair once the fire is extinguished and we will identify the cause of the fire and repair the electrical appliance and restore it to working order.
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