Emergency Appliance Repair

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

If an appliance emergency happens, unplug the appliance immediately and then call Bellevue Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in Bellevue. If there’s an electrical fire from one of the large or small appliances inside of your home, we recommend calling the local fire department even before attempting to extinguish the fire yourself.

An electrical fire can be very scary and extremely 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’s very important not to panic. Follow these easy guidelines to help keep your home safe from electrical appliance 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. Don’t plug too many devices into one outlet—the wiring might become overloaded and then spark a fire, especially when there’s debris like clothes or paper near the outlet.

Sometimes we forget about the dangers of larger household appliances because they stay plugged in all of the time, but they can present as much chance for a fire hazard as smaller electrical appliances like kitchen toasters and heaters. Larger appliances like a dishwasher or washing machine shouldn’t be left to run overnight or any time you’re away from home, and don’t keep a freezer or refrigerator in line of direct sunlight, in order to prevent possibly overworking the cooling systems.

Check all outlets on a regular basis for excessive heat, burn marks, and crackling or buzzing sounds that could indicate electrical arcing. Be sure you store at least one working smoke detector on each floor of your home, and test them regularly to keep them in working order.

WHAT TO NOT DO

If there is an appliance repair emergency such as an electrical fire, it might be tempting to put out the fire with water, but water should not be used to douse an electrical appliance fire.

Water can conduct electricity, and pouring water on or near a power source could give a dangerous electrical shock. It might even make the fire stronger. Water can conduct electricity to additional parts of the room, increasing the risk of igniting more flammable objects nearby.

HOW TO EXTINGUISH AN ELECTRICAL FIRE

The immediate thing you need to do is to unplug the electric appliance from the power source and call your local fire department. Even if you think you are able to handle the fire on your own, it is a good idea to have help if the fire does get out of control.

For little fires, you may be able to pour on baking soda to extinguish the fire. Covering the smoking or burning area with some baking soda will sometimes prevent oxygen flow to the fire with minimal risk of electrocution. Baking soda contains sodium bicarbonate, which is the chemical in standard fire extinguishers. You also may be able to smother a small fire with a heavy blanket, but only if the fire is small enough not to catch the heavy blanket on fire as well.

For big electrical appliance fires, use a Type C fire extinguisher. You should be sure you own at least one Type C or multi-use fire extinguisher in your home. Extinguishers need to be checked often to ensure they are not expired. If there’s a working extinguisher in the home, just release the pin near the top, point the nozzle at the fire, and squeeze the handle. If the fire gets too dangerous to put out by yourself or you are concerned the fire could block an exit, leave the home right away, shut the door , and then wait for help from the fire department.

For the smaller appliance fires, call Bellevue Appliance Repair once the fire is extinguished and we will diagnose the reason for the fire and repair the appliance and restore it to working order.

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Appliance Safety
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