Keeping Your Home Safe: Can Your Dryer Cause A Fire?

I was happily playing with my toddler at home. I decided to wash some of our clothes. I put the clothes in the dryer. Then my baby and I went upstairs to play. But what I didn’t realize was that the dryer had a blockage in the duct and it caught fire. I couldn’t believe it because I thought it was such an easy thing to put clothes in the dryer and go on with my day. I smelled smoke and we ran downstairs and fortunately out of the house in time. The fire station is close to my house so they arrived quickly.

I share my story to let families know how dangerous it is to have a clogged dryer. In our case the lint filter was clean but it was the duct that was somehow blocked. The worst thing you can do is start your dryer and just leave the house. Be careful about letting a housekeeper or babysitter do the laundry. The one thing I have invested in is a dryer with a sensor that tells you if there is a blockage. If there is, it will shut off. Many units detect only full or almost full blockage rather than a partial blockage. But at least the dryer shuts off if there is a full blockage.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, dryer fires are responsible for seven deaths, 344 civilian injuries, and $233 million in property damage annually. Consumerreports.org recommends the following:

1. Clean the Lint Filter

Not once a month, or even once a week: “Clean the lint from the dryer’s lint screen after every load,” says Richard Handel, the test engineer who oversees CR’s laundry appliance lab. “This helps prevent a fire, and it also helps your laundry dry faster.”

2. Replace Accordion-Style Ducts

Generally, dryers are equipped with a 4-inch vent in the back, which homeowners or installers connect to the exterior vent with a duct. But not all ducts will do.
If you see a plastic or foil accordion-style duct connecting your appliance to the vent, it’s a good idea to replace it. These are risky because they can sag, allowing lint to build up at low points and trapping lint in their ridges. A rigid metal duct is recommended. Use duct connectors and metal clamps or foil tape to join sections of duct rather than sheet-metal screws, which can catch lint and cause buildup inside the duct.

3. Clean the Dryer Duct Annually (at Least)

If you notice that your dryer takes longer to dry laundry than it used to, that’s a clue that there may be a blockage in the dryer vent system. When you’re drying a load, go outside and look at the vent. Do you see or feel exhaust air? If not, the vent or the exhaust duct may be blocked with lint. Start by disconnecting your dryer from the power source. And if you have a gas dryer, also turn off the gas valve near the dryer. Clean behind the dryer and underneath it—lint builds up there, too. In winter, check after windy weather or snowstorms to be sure that snow isn’t blocking the outdoor vent.

4. Handle Chemical Stains With Care

Clothes stained with gas, cooking oil, cleaning agents, or other flammable chemicals or substances need special care. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends washing such stained clothing more than once to minimize volatile chemicals, then hanging to dry. If you must use a dryer, use the lowest heat setting and a drying cycle that concludes with a cool-down period. In the event that a fire does start, keep the dryer door closed to limit its oxygen supply—a fire needs oxygen to keep it going.