what does it mean when my fan was acting weird?

when i would turn it on it would make a real loud noise, ive had it for yrs and it got to the point where when i would turn it on it wouldnt turn on at all for a couple of minutes, people have said it could be the motor, i tried to take my grocery cart to the dollar store and get another one but they didnt have any, i didnt have a car so i went on amazon and ordered another one which ups just delivered it today. i trashed the first one cause i was afraid it would be a fire hazard and im going to be using my new one, i need the white noise when i sleep so i dont hear neighbors, was wondering if my old one couldve started a fire when it was acting like that. any ideas?