Electrical Fires | East Greenwich, RI

9/28/2020 (Permalink)

Home fires that involve electrical failures or malfunctions are responsible for an average of 440 deaths per year.

Home fires that involve lighting equipment were responsible for 490 deaths between 2012 and 2016

According to the National Fire Protection Agency:

You CAN prevent a home electrical fire!

Although most electrical fires start behind your East Greenwich home's walls, if you know what signs to look for, you can prevent a fire! 

Keep your eye out for old wiring and receptacles. Especially if you already know they are old and need to be replaced, call a licensed electrician to ensure your home is up to code. 

Electrical fires - how do they start?

As stated above, most home fires start with faulty, old wiring or equipment and fixtures. According to the NFPA, most home electrical fires are caused by something called arcing. 

Arc faults are caused by damaged wires and/or connectors. With time, minimally damaged electrical elements will become more and more worn, generating heat and breaking down the wiring insulation, ultimately causing a fire. 

Keep your eye on your sockets and outlets, too! Older receptacles can also cause fires. 

Fire Facts and Tips

It's very important that you have smoke (and carbon monoxide) detectors in your home. It can save you and your families lives. 

Ensure that there are smoke alarms in each bedroom that is slept in, outside the room, and alarms on every level of your East Greenwich home. 

According to the NFPA, there were no smoke alarms present in 2 out of every 5 home fire deaths... 

Did you know, a closed door can help slow the spread of fire and smoke?

If you experience a home electrical fire while you (or a family member) is home and awake, use your ABC fire extinguisher  to extinguish the fire (if it is of size to deal with using an extinguisher). Be sure to call 9-1-1 before you attempt to extinguish it. (This goes for any size fire) This is just incase the fire gets out of control.

After the flames are out, the firefighters are gone, and everyone is safe, call SERVPRO of Northern Rhode Island at 401-949-9955, we are here to help restore and cleanup after fire damage. Most of the time, with fire damage, also comes water damage, and we're experts at water damage restoration, too! 

We'll make it "Like it never even happened."