New Mexico Electrician Drops Everything After Woman Says Her House Smells Like ‘Fish’ — His Urgent Warning Could Save Lives
NEW MEXICO – A New Mexico electrician is going viral after sharing a chilling public service warning: if your house suddenly smells like fish, it could mean your wiring is burning — not your dinner.
TikTok user James Allen (@jimallen2), a master electrician, says he was in the middle of a job when he got an emergency call from a woman reporting that her home smelled like fish. Instead of dismissing it, Allen immediately dropped everything and rushed to her house.
“That’s Not a Weird Smell — That’s a Wire Burning”
Allen explained in his viral video that he immediately recognized the situation as an electrical emergency.
“If you’re not cooking fish and your house smells like fish, that’s a wire burning on the insulation,” Allen warned. “It’s burning that plastic rubber stuff — that’s not just some weird smell.”
He added that anyone noticing the odor should turn off their breaker box immediately and call an electrician before the problem sparks a house fire.
“The first thing you need to do is go into your breaker box and turn everything off,” he said. “Then call an electrician. Don’t ignore it.”
When Allen arrived at the woman’s home, she pointed him to the master bedroom, where the smell was strongest. Within minutes, he found the faulty wiring, repaired it, and restored her power.
“Got the lady’s power back on,” Allen said in his post. “She didn’t have to burn her house down — because she smelled fish.”
@jimallen2 How to prevent electrical house fires. #electrical #fire#safety
Viewers Share Terrifying Near-Fire Stories
Allen’s warning struck a chord online, drawing thousands of comments from people who said they’d had similar experiences.
One viewer wrote:
“When I was 9, I’ll never forget walking into my grandfather’s house and smelling fish. He couldn’t smell it — I looked behind his TV and the whole socket was smoking.”
Another person added:
“I woke up at 4 a.m. because of that smell. It wasn’t smoke — minutes later, we had an electrical fire start in the walls.”
Others jumped in with scientific explanations, saying the odor comes from melted plastic compounds inside electrical components.
“The ‘fish’ label is just shorthand,” one commenter explained. “It’s actually a mix of ozone, phenol, and amine — the smell of unstable chemicals burning in the wiring.”
Why Burning Wires Smell Like Fish
Experts say overheated circuits can melt the plastic insulation and connectors that coat electrical wires. That heat releases volatile organic compounds (VOCs) — the same group of chemicals responsible for the “fishy” or “sweet-plastic” odor.
This smell can appear around outlets, appliances, or breaker panels, and often serves as the only early warning sign before a fire starts.
“Strange fishy odor = potential electrical fire,” one user wrote in a Reddit thread years earlier — echoing what Allen’s grandfather, also an electrician, once told him.
The Electrician’s Final Advice
Allen ended his viral PSA with one last warning: “Never ignore the smell of fish.”
If you smell it, experts say to:
- Turn off the main power immediately
- Unplug appliances near the smell
- Call a licensed electrician right away
“You might be saving your own life,” Allen said.
Have you ever noticed a strange fishy smell in your home and brushed it off? It could be the warning sign that prevents a fire. Share your story with us at FatCityFeed.com.
