Now you’re probably wondering, how can a dryer vent become a common home fire hazard? Most people can see how cigarettes can start a fire, especially if someone fell asleep and was smoking in bed, but dryer vents, come on.
Let’s start with cigarettes, a long time ago, cigarettes were more dangerous than they are today. Today, most cigarettes are made to go out quickly if not smoked. This has dramatically decreased deaths and fire damage caused by smoking in your home.
However, cigarettes should always be put out in an ashtray and should never be disposed of in a regular trash can filled with paper and other flammable waste. This is still a problem today and with a little common sense and a lot of education, this problem seems to be disappearing, as the years go by. It’s not a bad idea to put out the finished cigarette in a bottle filled with water. That is good advice, think about it if you are a smoker.
Now, what everyone has been waiting for, how can a dryer vent become a common home fire hazard? Well, it’s story time. Here’s something that actually happened at my house while I was at work.
We were taking care of a foster child who was nine years old and he saved our house. The rest of the family was playing in the back bedroom while the washer and dryer were running. I had recently done some modifications or you could call it remodeling in my garage and never got around to fixing the dryer vent properly. In other words, it wasn’t venting to the outside of the house as it should have been.
The problem with this was that the dryer vent was starting to slowly build up behind the dryer. You may find it hard to believe but the lint in this dryer caught fire while the hot air was coming straight out the back of the dryer and could have burned down the whole house except for the kid who smelled the smoke and notified someone who put out the fire.
Since then I have learned my lessons and that is why I am sharing my story with you, so it doesn’t happen to anyone who reads this article. There is a reason for the work of the pipes and ducts in your home, so make sure they are connected correctly and that they are cleaned regularly.