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

We're in the middle of winter in Iowa and the weather has been far from warm. Many people plug in space heaters into bad or overloaded outlets which can lead to devastating results.

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If you start to smell a distinct, fishy smell in your home, those devastating results are mere moments away from happening. Multiple fires have been reported recently in Iowa and throughout the Quad Cities. We don't want you to be next.

For those that don't know they have a bad circuit, outlet, or other faulty electrical equipment, knowing what that fishy smell means could mean life or death.

It's easy to forget about things plugged into your outlets, but you need to prevent your home from getting that fishy smell or else you won't have a home to go to.

If You Smell Fish Your Home Is On Fire

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.