lucky we caught this dryer fire before it caught fully alight
More often than not we see small starts of fires inside dryers! How this happens is pretty simple, the lint cannot escape as quickly as the dryer is trying to blow it outside. This causes the lint to start to build up inside the dryer itself. Inside the dryer there is a heating element that’s enclosed in a housing but lint settles on top of the element housing and starts smouldering away.
How This Dryer Became Fire Waiting To Burst In To Flames
Second floor laundry rooms are a delight to most home owners, they offer convenience and practicality, but there are some downsides. With this dryer the upstairs laundry room had a dryer vent that went up to the roof that was 3 stories high! They had over the last few years had a chimney sweep clean out the dryer vent, however they had not cleared the end of the dryer vent as that’s where the lint starts to build up, compacts and forms a plug.
Roof vent used for dryer opened up
When the roofers are putting roof vents on the roof they are not always aware that the vent is for a dryer vent thus a normal roof vent is used. This model has a tight screen that holds the lint in, forming a tight plug to stop the lint escaping, making the dryer work harder to dry each load.
Because the lint cannot escape it starts to settle inside the dryer around the heating element and on the element housing. This is how a dryer fire can happen, all this lint next to a heating element that’s glowing red hot is a recipe for a dryer fire.
Keep Safe Clean Your Dryer Vent Regularly, the dryer manufacturers recommend every 2 years that both the dryer vent gets cleaned and every few years that the inside of the dryer be cleaned professionally. Dryer Vent Installation offers professional dryer vent cleaning and dryer cleaning.