Burn Injury Resource Center
I was watching TV the other day when, believe it or not, a commercial caught my attention. (It seems that everyone else has a digital recording device, so they can skip the commercials. But I was glad that day that I don’t have DVR, or I would not have seen this informative commercial.)
Anyway, the commercial was for an insurance company that offers coverage for the home. In it, the actors stand in front of a giant ball of lint–the type of lint that comes from washing and drying your clothes–and then one of the actors lights the ball on fire. The ball, which was larger than the actors, becomes engulfed in flames almost instantly. Then one of the actors says, “Did you know that 15,000 fires start in clothes dryers each year?” That’s a pretty big number.
But as I thought about that a bit more, that number became even more terrifying. Why? Because most of the time, a clothes dryer is turned on and left alone for 45 minutes or more, until its timer runs out on its own. So that means that there are thousands of times each year where people go to sleep, or are doing things on the other side of their home, when the dryer is running. And if people are not diligent about cleaning out the lint trap frequently, it is very easy for the dryer to catch fire. What’s more, the lint and the clothes inside the machine will go up in flames in an instant, and possibly engulf the room and the rest of the house before the occupants know what is happening.
So the way to prevent a clothes dryer from causing fire–and prevent possible third-degree burns and smoke inhalation that can kill–is to clean the lint trap every time you use a clothes dryer. Also, never overfill a clothes dryer so that the unit and the clothes inside cannot overheat. Lastly, it would be smart to place a smoke detector on the ceiling near the clothes dryer so that if it does catch fire, the people in the building receive plenty of warning and can get out of the building.