i dont have any experience with such things happening or such things but if i were in that situation i would call someone
#Electrical fire hazard
boreal mirage
slate cloak
best is to contact your buildings management not some nerds online
torn bone
yeah anything fire hazard related should always be dealt with appropriately via building management and or the fire department if management doesn't do anything
usually city/regional fire department have a resources page and u can contact them via the non emergency number for fire code complaints etc.
this is the page for FDNY: https://www.nyc.gov/site/fdny/about/resources/resources.page
drifting sonnet
That could definitely be a serious hazard. I would contact your building's administration as soon as physically possible. Fire in industrial areas and buildings is not a joke and needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible in order to prevent damage and possibly loss of life.
formal rock
As to why it smells bad, it's probably cheap liquid capacitors in the lock circuit that failed, and they will keep smelling bad for a long while.
Unlikely to be a fire hazard, just needs replacing.
But like others pointed out before.. that's for building maintenance to figure out.
drifting sonnet
I'll be honest, I've blown a hell of a lot of cheap liquid capacitors and they smell bad but nothing like fish. Plus, I wouldn't expect there to be many and/or massive ones in an electronic keypad. I'd say there's possibly something else somewhere, as those caps shouldn't smell that way, that bad, for that long.
formal rock
could be yep, that the smell has nothing to do with the keypad