Emergency Appliance Repair

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

If an appliance emergency occurs in your house, unplug the appliance immediately and then call Triumph Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in White Plains. If there is an electrical fire resulting from one of the appliances inside of your home, we recommend calling the city fire department before attempting to put out the fire on your own.

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

PREVENTING ELECTRICAL FIRES

You are able to stop electrical fires from starting by following some basic rules of appliance safety. Do not plug in more than two electrical devices into one outlet—the wiring can get overloaded and then spark a fire, especially if there is debris like clothes or paper near the electrical outlet.

It can be easy to forget about the dangers of larger appliances because they stay plugged in all of the time, but they still present as much chance for a fire hazard as smaller electrical devices like kitchen toasters and space heaters. Large appliances like a dishwasher or washing machine should not be left running overnight or any time you’re not at home, and don’t place a refrigerator or freezer in direct sunlight, to prevent overworking the cooling systems inside.

Examine all of the outlets regularly for extreme heat, burns, and buzzing or crackling sounds that might point to electrical arcing. Be sure you have at least one working smoke detector on each story of your house, and test them regularly to keep them in good working order.

WHAT TO NOT DO

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

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

HOW TO PUT OUT AN ELECTRICAL FIRE

The immediate step you should do is to unplug the electric device from the power source and call the fire department. Even if you can handle the fire yourself, it’s a good idea to have help if the flames do get out of control.

For small fires, you could be able to use baking soda to douse the fire. Covering the fuming or burning area with some baking soda can prevent oxygen flow to the fire with little risk of electrocution. Baking soda includes sodium bicarbonate, which is the same substance used in standard fire extinguishers. You also could be able to extinguish a smaller fire with a heavy blanket, but only when the flames are small enough not to catch the heavy blanket on fire as well.

For large electrical appliance fires, you need a Type C fire extinguisher. You should make sure you have at least one Type C fire extinguisher in your home. Extinguishers should also be inspected consistently to make sure they haven’t expired. If you have a working extinguisher on hand, just pull the pin at the top, point the nozzle at the flames, and squeeze the handle. If the fire gets too dangerous to fight by yourself or you are concerned the fire may block an exit, leave the home as fast as possible, shut the door , and then wait for help from the local fire department.

For the small appliance fires, call Triumph Appliance Repair once the flames are extinguished and we will identify the reason for the fire and repair the appliance and return it to its original condition.

OTHER RESOURCES:

Appliance Repair Cost
Appliance Repair Tips
Appliance Safety
Repair or Replace Appliances
Refrigerator Parts