Appliance emergency: what to do right now

Start with the situation you are in. Each section below is short and in order of what to do first. Safety comes before the appliance: if anyone is in danger, call 911.

• You smell gas: leave the home now, then call from outside.
• Flames, or smoke you cannot account for: get everyone out and call 911.
• Burning smell, sparks or a scorched outlet: stop the appliance and cut the power if you can do it safely.
• Water on the floor: stop the water, keep clear of electricity.
• Fridge or freezer stopped: keep the doors closed; food has a few hours.
• Breaker keeps tripping: reset once; if it trips again, leave it off.

You smell gas

Natural gas has an odorant added that smells like rotten eggs or sulphur. If you smell it near a range, oven, cooktop or gas dryer:

• Get everyone out of the home, including pets. Leave the door open behind you if you can.
• Do not switch lights or appliances on or off, do not use a phone or electronics near the leak, do not light anything, and do not start a car in an attached garage.
• From a safe distance outside, call your gas utility's emergency line or 911. Do not assume someone else has called.

Emergency numbers, as published by the utilities (September 2026):

• Ottawa (Enbridge Gas, Ontario): 1-866-763-5427, 24 hours, or 911.
• Gatineau (Enbridge Gaz Québec, formerly Gazifère): 819 771-8321, option 1, or 911. The Ville de Gatineau's fire prevention page lists the same number.
• Elsewhere in Quebec (Énergir customers): 911, or 1 800 361-8003 where 911 is not available.

If gas is burning, do not try to put it out; call 911. Once the utility or fire service says it is safe, the appliance can be looked at. RepairWell diagnoses gas appliances; burner, igniter, valve and gas-connection work is done by a certified gas contractor we work with, not by our own technicians. More on this: gas smell from an appliance.

Burning smell, smoke or sparks

If there are flames, leave and call 911. If there is a burning smell or a little smoke and no flame:

• Stop the appliance. If it is a plug-in appliance and the plug and outlet look normal, unplug it. If the plug or outlet is scorched or hot, do not touch it; turn off the circuit at the breaker panel instead, if you can reach it without passing the smoke.
• For a dryer, Samsung's Canadian support advice is to turn off an electric dryer that is smoking and, if a burning smell continues, turn it off at the circuit breaker. A smoking gas dryer is treated like a gas smell: leave and call.
• Do not restart the appliance to "see if it happens again".

Some smells are normal. Samsung notes that a new oven can smell or smoke on first use as protective oils burn off, and that smoke during self-clean or from food spills is expected. A new dryer can smell for its first runs. A smell from an appliance you have used for months is not in that category. For dryers, read dryer vent safety and lint fires; for microwaves, microwave sparking; for ovens, oven smoking.

Water on the floor

• Keep clear of electricity first. Hydro Ottawa's advice is to stay out of flooded basements, because water may reach outlets, baseboard heaters or the electrical panel. If water has come into contact with electrical components, Hydro Ottawa asks you to call (613) 738-6400 to request a disconnection.
• Stop the appliance if you can reach its controls from a dry spot.
• Close the water supply. A washer usually has two taps behind it. A dishwasher's supply valve is often under the kitchen sink. A fridge water line may have a valve under the sink, behind the fridge or in the basement. If you cannot find or close it, close the main water shut-off. Intact Insurance's advice is that everyone in the household should know where the main shut-off is and how to use it.
• Mop up and take photos of the water and the appliance for your insurer.

An appliance leak is different from a flood. Hydro Ottawa's advice is never to reuse appliances or cords that have come into contact with floodwater. If your washer, dryer or freezer sat in floodwater, tell us when you call. For appliance leaks, see washer leaking, dishwasher leaking and fridge leaking water. A burst fill hose is a common cause; Intact recommends inspecting appliance hoses yearly and replacing them at least every 10 years.

Fridge or freezer stopped working

Health Canada's guidance for power outages applies just as well to a fridge that has stopped:

• Do not open the doors unless you need to. An unopened fridge keeps food cold for about 4 hours. A full freezer keeps food frozen for about 48 hours, a half-full one for about 24 hours.
• Food that still contains ice crystals or feels refrigerator-cold can be refrozen.
• Health Canada recommends a fridge at 4 °C (40 °F) or lower and a freezer at -18 °C (0 °F) or lower. An appliance thermometer tells you where you stand.
• When in doubt, throw it out. Food contaminated with bacteria does not always smell bad or look spoiled.

Before you call, check the simple things: that the fridge is plugged in and the outlet works (test it with a lamp), that the breaker has not tripped, and that the temperature control has not been turned down by accident. If the fridge is running but warm, see fridge not cooling; for the freezer, freezer not freezing. Move the most perishable food to another fridge or a cooler with ice while you wait for service.

Breaker keeps tripping

Reset the breaker once. If it trips again when the appliance runs, leave it off and unplug the appliance if you can do so safely. The Electrical Safety Foundation International's advice is that an appliance which repeatedly blows a fuse or trips a breaker could have a defect that may cause a fire or electrical shock, and should be unplugged and repaired or replaced. Do not keep resetting it, and do not move the appliance to an extension cord. If breakers trip with nothing running, or a breaker is hot or smells, that is a job for a licensed electrician, not an appliance technician.

A burner or oven will not turn off

For an electric range or oven that stays on, turn off its circuit at the breaker panel. For a gas burner that will not turn off at the knob, treat it as a gas emergency and call your gas utility. See stove burner stays on high and oven door locked.

Getting urgent service from RepairWell

Once the situation is safe, call us at (613) 880-3013. We will give you the earliest window we have. We do not promise same-day or 24/7 service, and we will not give you a time we cannot keep.

• Our hours are Monday to Friday, 7 am to 9 pm, and Saturday and Sunday, 8 am to 6 pm.
• You can also request a booking online. An online booking is a request; we confirm a window by text or phone within 1 business hour.
• The diagnostic is $89, waived when you go ahead with the repair. You get a written finding with the cause, the price and our verdict on whether the repair is worth doing.

Things that help us come prepared: the appliance's model number (see finding your model and serial number), a photo of any error code or damage, and a short description of what happened and when. Preparing for a technician visit has the rest.

Gas leaks, fire and flooding go to 911, your gas utility or Hydro Ottawa first. We come in after the situation is safe, to find out what failed and whether it is worth repairing.

Questions

Related

• Smell of gas near an appliance
• Refrigerator not cooling
• Freezer not freezing
• Washer leaking
• Dryer vent safety
• book
• Request service / contact
• Preparing for a technician visit