Emergency Appliance Repair

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

If an appliance emergency occurs in your home, unplug the appliance immediately and then call Apex Joliet Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in Joliet. If there is an electrical fire involving one of the large or small appliances inside your home, we suggest calling the town fire department even before attempting to put out the fire by yourself.

An electrical fire is scary and extremely dangerous, but there are a couple of ways to be prepared in case of an emergency. If one of your appliances goes up in flames, it’s important not to panic. Follow our easy guidelines to keep your home safe from electrical fires.

HOW TO PREVENT ELECTRICAL FIRES

You are able to prevent electrical fires before they start by following some simple rules of appliance safety. Be sure not to plug a lot of devices into a single outlet—the wiring can become overloaded and spark a fire, especially if there is clutter like clothes or paper close to the outlet.

It can be easy to forget about the apparent dangers of larger household appliances because they are plugged in all of the time, but they can present as much chance for a fire hazard as smaller electrical devices like kitchen toasters and space heaters. Larger appliances like a dishwasher or washing machine shouldn’t be left to run overnight or while you’re away from home, and try not to keep a refrigerator or freezer in line of direct sunlight, to prevent possibly overworking the cooling systems inside.

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

WHAT NOT TO DO

If there is an appliance repair emergency such as an electrical fire, it could be tempting to put out the fire with water, however water shouldn’t be used to fight an electrical appliance fire.

Water will conduct electricity, and pouring water on a power source might cause a severe electrical shock. It could even make the fire stronger. Water might conduct electricity to other areas of the room, running the risk of igniting other flammable objects in the area.

HOW TO EXTINGUISH AN ELECTRICAL FIRE

The first step you need to do is to unplug the appliance from the power source and call the fire department. Even if you might be able to extinguish the fire on your own, it’s important to have help if the flames do get out of control.

For small fires, you might be able to use baking soda to douse the flames. 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 also contains sodium bicarbonate, which is the chemical used in standard fire extinguishers. You might be able to extinguish a smaller fire using a heavy blanket, but only when the flames are small enough to not catch the blanket on fire.

For big electrical appliance fires, you need a Type C fire extinguisher. You should always make sure you have at least one Type C or multi-use extinguisher in your home. Extinguishers should also be inspected regularly to be sure they aren’t expired. If there is a operational fire 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 flames get too big to put out by yourself or you are concerned the fire might block an exit, you should leave the home as fast as possible, shut the door , and wait for assistance from the local fire department.

For the smaller appliance fires, call Apex Joliet Appliance Repair once the flames are under control and we can diagnose the cause of the fire and repair the electrical appliance and return it to working order.

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Appliance Safety
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