Stop using it. Our rule is to switch that circuit’s breaker off if you can reach the panel safely. If there is smoke or flame, get out and call 911 from outside. Then call a licensed Electrical Contractor before anyone uses that circuit again.
Each step below names the public body behind it and the date we read it. Where a rule is ours and not a public body’s, the page says so. This page gives no repair instructions. It stops where the work becomes licensed work.
The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) estimates that in 2023 there were 23,700 residential building electrical malfunction fires in the U.S., with 305 deaths, 800 injuries and more than $1.5 billion in dollar loss (USFA, Residential Building Electrical Malfunction Fire Trends, 2014-2023, page last reviewed February 14, 2025, read October 9, 2026).
Four steps, in this order: stop using it, switch the breaker off if you can reach it safely (our rule), call 911 for smoke or flame, then call a TDLR-licensed Electrical Contractor.
(CPSC Publication 513, Home Electrical Safety Checklist, July 2008; USFA, On the Safety Circuit, March 1999, posted by the Fort Worth Fire Department; both read October 9, 2026.)
A breaker that stayed on is not an all-clear. CPSC: “Typical household fuses and circuit breakers do not respond to early arcing and sparking conditions in home wiring. By the time a fuse or circuit breaker opens a circuit to defuse these conditions, a fire may already have begun.” (CPSC Publication 5133, April 2012, read October 9, 2026.)
Stop using the appliance. NFPA names “A burning or rubbery smell coming from an appliance” as a reason to call a qualified electrician, and CPSC says damaged appliances can be a shock or fire hazard. For a smell from an outlet, switch or wall, our rule is to treat it the way you would a warm outlet.
If the smell comes from an appliance, switch it off and stop using it. For small appliances such as hair dryers, CPSC’s checklist asks whether they are working “with no signs of damaged wiring or parts? (smoke, sparks, and noises, etc.)” Its answer when they are not: “Discard or have repaired.” It adds: “Damaged appliances can become a shock or fire hazard.” For cords, USFA’s Appliance and Electrical Fire Safety page says: “If the appliance has a cracked, damaged or loose cord, replace the appliance.” (USFA, Appliance and Electrical Fire Safety, page last reviewed May 4, 2023, read October 9, 2026.)
NFPA’s list names the smell from an appliance. No source we read names a smell from an outlet, a switch or a wall. Our reading: the closest item on NFPA’s list is “Discolored or warm wall outlets.” Follow the four steps above. If you see smoke, step 3 comes first.
NFPA lists “Sparks from an outlet.” A USFA, HUD and NIST fact sheet says sparks when you insert or remove a plug “could be a sign of loose connections.”
The fact sheet is “Electrical Safety in Manufactured Homes” (USFA, HUD and NIST, January 2000), which the Fort Worth Fire Department posts as “Electrical Safety.” Its full line: “If sparks appear when you insert or remove a plug, they could be a sign of loose connections.” The same sheet names “loose connections” at switches and receptacles as a common error, and says of it and of wrongly rated devices: “Both can lead to overheating and arcing that can start fires.”
If the sparks come from a tool or appliance rather than the outlet, USFA’s On the Safety Circuit fact sheet says: “Replace any tool if it causes even small electrical shocks, overheats, shorts out or gives off smoke or sparks.”
CPSC says a warm outlet or switch can mean a loose connection that can start a fire. Its advice is to make sure the outlet is not overloaded, then stop using it until an electrician checks it.
CPSC’s checklist asks: “Are all outlets and switches cool to the touch?” If not: “Make sure appliances are not overloading the outlet. Stop using them until an electrician checks the problem.” The reason: “Unusually warm outlets or switches may indicate an unsafe wiring condition exists, such as a loose electrical connection that can start a fire.” CPSC notes that some dimmer switches run warm in normal use. If a plug or cord is hot to the touch, our step 1 rule applies: leave it in place and switch the breaker off instead.
Overloading can do it too. CPSC: “Too much current will cause the wires to get hot. If the cord, plug, or outlet feels warm, it may be overloaded, and can be a fire hazard.” USFA’s guidance: “Do not overload outlets.” And for major appliances: “Never use an extension cord with a major appliance. The extension cord can overheat and start a fire.” (USFA, Electrical and Appliance Fire Safety card, 2019, read October 9, 2026.)
Loose plugs: CPSC says “Loose-fitting plugs can cause overheating and fires.” USFA says to “Replace wall outlets if plugs do not fit snugly.” Replacing an outlet means taking off its cover, so that is a call to an Electrical Contractor.
For a light switch that is hot to the touch, USFA’s On the Safety Circuit, posted by Fort Worth Fire, says to shut it off and have it professionally replaced. Under our step 1 rule, shut it off at the breaker rather than at the hot switch.
Do not take off a cover plate, take the cover off the breaker panel, or try a repair. Past the four steps above, this is licensed work.
If a check needs a screwdriver, a cover off, or a hand near a wire, it is not a safe check. CPSC explains why the panel cover stays on: adding a breaker “involves working within electrical panel boxes that are usually electrically live, even with the main circuit breakers turned off.” Its advice: “do not attempt this work yourself” (CPSC Publication 5133).
The USFA, HUD and NIST fact sheet ties many of these problems to do-it-yourself work: “Studies of electrical fires in homes show that many problems are associated with improper installation of electrical devices by do-it-yourselfers.”
Our rule, not a public body’s: if a breaker tripped along with a burning smell, sparks or heat, leave it off until an Electrical Contractor has checked the circuit, and never hold a breaker on.
Our electrical problems at home page says to reset a tripped breaker once, and it lists smoke, flame and an outlet or switch that runs warm among the signs that mean stop using the circuit and call for help, not keep checking. This page applies that to a trip that came with a burning smell, sparks or heat: do not reset the breaker, not even once.
Take the first three steps, then tell your landlord. Do not do electrical work yourself.
NFPA’s own list says to call “a qualified electrician or your landlord.” Texas requires a license from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) to perform or offer electrical work (§1305.151). State law exempts an owner who lives in the dwelling only for work “not specifically regulated by a municipal ordinance” (Tex. Occ. Code §1305.003(a)(6)).
A renter is not the owner, so nothing on this page asks a renter to do electrical work. If something electrical in a rental stops working, report it to your landlord. If there is smoke or flame, call 911 first.
Hire a business that holds a TDLR Electrical Contractor license, and check the license yourself before work starts.
Ask for the license number and look it up on TDLR’s license search. Our Texas electrical license lookup guide walks through it. TDLR says: “You must employ a licensed Master Electrician to apply for an Electrical Contractor license” (TDLR, Apply for a New Electrical Contractor License, read October 9, 2026).
If you own and live in the home, what the state exemption allows in your city, and where it does not apply, is set out in can you do your own electrical work in Texas. Whether the repair needs a city permit also depends on the city, and our Texas permit guides cover it city by city.
To find Electrical Contractors near you, start from the Texas county directory. For other symptoms and the checks that are safe for anyone, see electrical problems at home in Texas.
Every figure on this page comes from one of the documents below, each published by the body that sets, measures or administers the thing it describes. We record the document’s own date and the date we read it, because published pages change without notice.
| Source | Document date | We read it |
|---|---|---|
| National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) – Electrical Home Fire Safety (‘Call a qualified electrician or your landlord if you have:’ list; ‘Have all electrical work done by a qualified electrician.’) | undated web page (page data shows it updated April 9, 2026) | 2026-10-09 |
| U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) – Home Electrical Safety Checklist, Publication 513 (PDF) | printed ‘Pub 513 July 2008’ | 2026-10-09 (page 4 read as rendered) |
| CPSC – Preventing Home Fires: Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCIs), Publication 5133 (PDF) | printed ‘Publication 5133 R042012’ (April 2012) | 2026-10-09 |
| U.S. Fire Administration (USFA/FEMA) – Residential Building Electrical Malfunction Fire Trends (2014-2023): 2023 national estimates 23,700 fires, 305 deaths, 800 injuries, $1,501,600,000 dollar loss | ‘Page last reviewed: Feb. 14, 2025’; the statistic is for 2023, the latest year in this series | 2026-10-09 |
| USFA – Home Fire Escape Plans (‘prepared to leave their homes immediately in the event of fire’) | ‘Page last reviewed: April 10, 2025’ | 2026-10-09 |
| USFA – Home Fire Safety poster/brochure (PDF) (‘Know how to call 911 from outside to report a fire.’) | undated on its face; PDF created August 10, 2020 | 2026-10-09 |
| USFA – Appliance and Electrical Fire Safety | ‘Page last reviewed: May 4, 2023’ | 2026-10-09 |
| USFA – Electrical and Appliance Fire Safety card (PDF) | undated on its face; PDF created November 18, 2019 | 2026-10-09 |
| Fort Worth Fire Department – Education page (lists the fire safety fact sheets it publishes, including ‘On the Safety Circuit’ and ‘Electrical Safety’; ‘If you have an emergency, call 9-1-1’) | undated city web page | 2026-10-09 |
| USFA – On the Safety Circuit: A Factsheet on Home Electrical Fire Prevention (PDF, posted by the Fort Worth Fire Department) | printed ‘March, 1999’ | 2026-10-09 |
| USFA, HUD and NIST – Electrical Safety in Manufactured Homes (PDF, posted by the Fort Worth Fire Department as ‘Electrical Safety’) | printed ‘January 2000’ | 2026-10-09 (read as rendered) |
| Texas Occupations Code ch. 1305 (§§1305.003(a)(6), 1305.151), official text, Texas Legislature (raw file tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/OC/htm/OC.1305.htm) | current text; §1305.151 last amended by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 418 (S.B. 1222), eff. March 1, 2008 | 2026-10-09 |
| TDLR – Apply for a New Electrical Contractor License (master electrician of record) | undated agency web page | 2026-10-09 |
| TDLR – License Search | undated state web page | 2026-10-09 (link only) |
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