Illinois, If There Is A Fishy Smell In Your Home Leave Immediately

Temperatures across Illinois and the region continue to be dangerously cold and people are doing what they can to stay warm. With a Wind Chill Warning still in effect and temperatures at or below 0°, most of us are resorting to anything to give us an extra dose of warmth.

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Many people use space heaters to help keep them and their homes warm beyond what a furnace does. Space heaters take up a lot of electricity and if they are plugged into a faulty outlet or into an overloaded outlet, things can take a bad turn.

That bad turn typically is an electrical fire and it's pretty easy to tell if you have one. If you haven't made finish in your home recently but are getting a whiff of a fishy smell, chances are your home may be already on fire.

Fishy Smell Is Extremely Dangerous

When someone says they "Smell something fishy," they are normally speaking metaphorically. In this case, we mean literally.

If there is a fishy smell being emitted in your home but you haven't made fish recently, you are already in grave danger. It means something is already on fire and you need to get out of your home before the worst could happen.

Experts say that fishy odors in a home almost always mean there’s an electrical fire or one is about to ignite.

Electrical Fires Smell Fishy, But Why?

Many people say an electrical fire emits a fishy scent instead of a burning plastic odor, according to the experts at Black Hills Inc. Unfortunately, the fishy smell typically means it has just started and your house is about to burn down.

The electricians at Black Hills Inc. note this about that fishy smell,

"The fish odor is caused by electrical components overheating that haven’t begun to burn up. Their heat-resistant chemical coatings can also release a fishy odor when they are burned."

You can definitely tell when you have an electrical fire by the fishy or burning plastic smell. If you can smell those, you're in extreme danger and need to leave immediately.

How To Prevent Electrical Fires

It's pretty easy to prevent electrical fires. Don't think you can plug everything into one outlet because that's an easy way to get things started.

There are several ways to prevent electrical fires and the experts with the U.S. Fire Administration have them listed. Give their tips a look and make sure your home isn't going to start smelling fishy anytime soon.