Electrical Emergency Checklist: What to Do Before Help Arrives

Most electrical emergencies get worse in the gap between noticing and calling. Here is what to do in the first few minutes, organized by what you are actually seeing.

Burning smell, smoke, or scorch marks

Treat this as the most serious category, because it is.

1. If you see smoke or flame, leave and call 911. Do not open the panel.
2. If there is a smell but no smoke, shut off the main breaker if you can reach the panel safely and it is not hot, wet or buzzing.
3. Do not use water on anything electrical.
4. Get everyone out of the affected area and call for emergency electrical service.

A burning plastic smell with no visible source usually means a connection overheating inside a wall or box. It will not resolve on its own.

Sparking or arcing outlet

1. Do not touch the outlet or what is plugged into it.
2. Turn off the breaker for that circuit. If you cannot identify it, turn off the main.
3. Leave it off. Do not test whether it still sparks.
4. Call for same-day service. Arcing damages conductors cumulatively.

Total loss of power

1. Check whether neighbors have power. If not, it is a utility outage — report it to your utility.
2. If it is only your property, check the main breaker and any exterior disconnect.
3. Look at the meter and service entrance from a safe distance for obvious damage. Never touch service conductors.
4. If the main will not hold, stop resetting and call.

Partial power, or 240V appliances behaving oddly

Half the house dark, or lights unusually bright in some rooms and dim in others, often indicates a lost neutral or a failed leg of the service. This is genuinely dangerous — voltage on 120V circuits can swing high enough to destroy electronics and start fires.

1. Turn off the main breaker.
2. Unplug sensitive electronics.
3. Call immediately. This is not a wait-until-morning situation.

Water and electricity together

1. Do not enter standing water in a room with energized outlets or equipment.
2. Shut off power at the main only if the panel is dry and you can reach it without standing in water.
3. If the panel itself is wet, stay away and call.
4. Anything submerged — outlets, appliances, the furnace — needs inspection before being re-energized.

Someone has been shocked

1. Do not touch the person while they may still be in contact with the source.
2. Cut power at the breaker or main first.
3. Call 911. Electrical injuries can cause internal and cardiac damage that is not visible.
4. Get the circuit inspected before it is used again.

Before the electrician arrives

• Clear access to the panel — move the boxes and the laundry basket.
• Write down exactly what happened and what was running.
• Have your service size ready if you know it.
• Note which breakers are off and which have tripped.
• Keep pets contained and leave affected circuits off.

What never to do

Do not repeatedly reset a breaker that trips instantly. Do not put a larger breaker in. Do not use extension cords as permanent wiring after a failure. Do not run a portable generator indoors, in a garage, or backfed through an outlet.