As a follow up, we have since discovered the cause of the fire.
We bought our house new seven years ago. Installed the dryer and all was well. Then, of course, the fire story.
My cousin and his wife were here recently and we mentioned that the new dryer just doesn’t work well. My cousin is a retired fireman and to make a long story short, he went outside while the dryer was on and checked the exhaust - you know, that little flap that opens when the dryer is pushing out hot air?
Well, the flap wasn’t opening! We got a ladder and climbed up…it seems that when they finished the house with stucco (common in the Southwest) they put so much on that it blocked the trap from opening! We had to use a chisel to chip away the stucco so that the air vent to the outside would open. Since then, our dryer works perfectly…and the cause of the fire that almost destroyed our house has been discovered.
Generally, I do laundry in the evening when we’re going to be home anyway, or on a day when we’re doing chores around the house. I don’t like leaving it unattended just because I don’t like my clothes to sit in a cooling mass, setting in wrinkles. That’s the same reason I don’t like to go off leaving the washer running, although I’ve done it on occasion.
No problem with the iron - we put it away when we finish with it - neither of us likes tripping over the ironing board. And I don’t use curling irons. Nor do I have a problem with leaving the crock pot on.
Honestly, my biggest worry is not closing the fridge in the garage solidly, and coming home to find a melty mess. So far, so good.
Anyway, we don’t but it’s not a conscious decision. We do our laundry on nights that we’re home. There’s a lot of swapping out to do, and you don’t really need to iron if you take your shirts out right after the dryer stops.
OMG, why didn’t I think of that? Since it’s way more dangerous statistically to drive, I’ll just go ahead and run my dryer when I’m not home and ignore the risk factors for that activity entirely. Good call!
This is making me nervous. How does one get into the exhaust tubing if one’s got a stacked dryer/washer combination in its own closet? :eek:
And I’m definitely going to have to get into the reachable bits of the dryer when I get home today. Fire bad. Barbecued **lizardling ** and company bad.
I don’t anymore! About a year ago, I turned on the dryer filled with clothes and left the house to go do something. I got back about 4 hours later and the dryer was still running! I turned it off and tried to take the clothes out. They were RED HOT!!! Ever since then, my partner and I never leave ANYTHING running unless we are there. Apparently the moisture sensor in my almost new dryer failed.
According to the NFPA, from 1999-2002, washing machines and clothes dryers on average were the source of ignition for 13,300 fires, involved 10 civilian deaths, 280 injuries, and $97 million in direct property damage. Although the trend is downward, it’s still statistically one of the most likely appliances to result in a dwelling fire. After many years as a firefighter and also performing appliance repairs, I can assure you that despite attention to cleaning of the lint filter, the average machine interior is full of lint, and most discharge pipes are coated on the inside. I’ve also found machines with a burnt layer of lint inside, indicating that it flashed, but thankfully burned itself out without escaping the cabinet and igniting other combustibles. I only run my washer and dryer when I’m home, so I can hear the basement smoke detector and investigate immediately.
Yes, furnace fires and water heater fires do happen. And yes, most residential furnaces do have a “lint trap”, more commonly called a “furnace filter”, which collects dust and lint from the air and should be replaced (some types can simply be cleaned or “emptied”) frequently, lest the air flow be impeded, leading to greatly reduced efficiency, and an increased risk of fire.
Most water heaters come on when the water in the tank falls below a set temperature, regardless of whether anyone has been using hot water. The water doesn’t remain hot indefinitely; depending on the size of the water heater and how it’s insulated, it’s likely to come on during times when nobody’s home or using hot water.
Most modern ovens (at least in my experience) have timer controls, so they can be set to turn on at a specific time of day. Oven fires also occur sometimes. The same can be said for microwave ovens. Or VCRs, for that matter.
Electrical appliances all entail some (usually minuscule) risk of fire. So do gas appliances (which nowadays almost always have an electrical component as well). At some point, most people are willing to accept the slight risk in return for the convenience of modern life, and manage to balance “not being overly careless” against “not being overly neurotic”.
Personally, I won’t leave the house unless the washer and dryer are running, and the furnace and air conditioner (separate units) are battling for supremacy between them. It’s when I get home that I turn off the main breaker to the house. I don’t want to have the place burn down while I’m there. But I’ve always been the cautious type.
Um what? Two different organizations compile different databases, and although the newer reflects lower numbers, I noted in my post that the trend is generally downward. Your point is?
