Is Too Much Technology a Fire Risk to Your Home?

9/28/2021 (Permalink)

With more and more gadgets available to consumers, the increased need to plug in and recharge those items increases significantly. Keeping cell phones, iPads, iPods, and all the other fun technology we have charged often means plugging charging cables into adapters. Even more practical technology like hearing aids, electric shavers, and electronic toothbrushes now are rechargeable, yet another item in need of power! This practice and others like it can lead to overheated plugs and eventually cause a fire. Learn how to stay plugged in while staying safe.

Understand plugging in safely
 

Using properly rated power strips can protect your home from fire damage caused by too many electrical devices plugged into one socket. This used to be a challenge only for areas of the house that traditionally demanded a lot of plugged-in items, such as family rooms with TVs, stereos, DVDs, etc. A second room with huge power demand is home offices where computers, phone chargers, printers, and monitors demand power, as well as routers. Now we have a third room demanding power: the bathroom. Electric shavers, hearing aids, toothbrushes, cordless facial brushes, and more up increasing demand for power in the bathroom. Nowadays, vanities and drawers in bathrooms hold electrical outlets, which make any electrical issue such as overheating and burning out of sight and therefore more apt to catch fire if overloaded. The challenge is that even with the best adapters, too much plugged into a single device can overload and thus overheat. The rubber or soft plastic electrical cords on many devices give off noxious fumes when overheated or burned, which can create very dense soot if temperatures are high enough. The plugs can also contribute to this, as well as melt and cause the carpeting and adjacent wall to singe or burn. A definite safety hazard!

SERVPRO can help with damage caused by electrical fires
 

The trained professionals at SERVPRO know how this kind of disaster can affect your family and we are ready to help clean up the damage and make things “Like it never even happened.” The areas above doorways and windows near the fire often contain concentrated levels of smoke residue while areas in direct contact with flames will have more substantial damage. We begin working to remove this soon after we arrive. Allowing this substance to remain longer only allows it to adhere more tightly, making it more difficult to clean away. We also clean anything else in your home where smoke residue and soot settled. After a fire, odor from the fire, even if a low smoldering flame, becomes very noticeable. While cleaning soot off surfaces removes a significant amount of this odor, if the fire created enough smoke, the odor left behind might remain because its source hides in areas where our tools cannot reach. Our IICRC-certified Odor Control Technician (OCT) can efficiently manage this mess. For the toughest odors, we rely on thermal fogging and other techniques. For smaller fires, the use of gel packs and injected deodorizers often suffices. Working with a trained fire remediation company allows you to have options should you experience an electrical fire.

Enjoy the technology but know who to call

 
Technology is here to stay, so understanding how to safely charge up your devices is critical to keeping your home from experiencing fire damage of any kind from electrical devices. SERVPRO of Phoenix is ready to help should you experience an electrical fire and can provide you with the level of service you deserve. Call us at (480) 503-2090 so we can help mitigate your home after it suffers smoke or fire damage from electrical devices.