QuickOldCar Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Doing some wash here in my basement as I do some work on the computer. Dryer made a funny noise, then i smelled something burning, room filling with smoke. I ran to the dryer and flames were shooting out the door, the bottom, and even out the little cracks in the sides. These were wet clothes burning as I just placed them in not more than 5 minutes prior. It’s a 220 electric dryer. I went and hit the breaker, got buckets of water and doused the flames in and out. Then more smoke was there, so much I could barely see. While not standing directly in lots of water, I carefully unplugged the dryer from further use. Now it was time to clear the smoke from the house. Every window and door open. Fan directly at back door pointing out, one room upstairs a fan in each of the 2 windows pointing out. My basement bilco door wide open. All the while checking to make sure the fire was indeed out. So a few more buckets of water in it certainly couldn’t hurt. Here’s what happened, the something with the drum broke, clothes went down the bottom directly onto the element through the space of the drum and back wall. Is amazing that wet clothes can burn that way, but a lot of electricity can burn anything. Being a former Fire Systems Inspector I am very familiar in how to put out certain types of fires. I wrote this article to warn others the hazards of your dryer. This could happen to anyone at any time, I'm just glad I was sitting near it at the time. (Although not related to my fire) At this time I will also remind people to clean out all the lint from within their dryer and the vent hose, don't forget to unplug it or also turn off the gas if is a gas unit. Keep an eye on them and never leave them unattended for long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs.punk Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 That is scary, sounds like something out of hollywood... Just out of curiosity how old was the machine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuickOldCar Posted April 22, 2011 Author Share Posted April 22, 2011 Dryer was 3 years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamwest Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 i find this post hard to masturbate to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zane Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 Those burning flames smell like a good lawsuit. @dreamwest: dude, you're totally fuckin' up the integrity of intellectual speak amongst this place. We can't have trolls masturbating to threads in Misc... that's really creepy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamwest Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 Those burning flames smell like a good lawsuit. @dreamwest: dude, you're totally fuckin' up the integrity of intellectual speak amongst this place. We can't have trolls masturbating to threads in Misc... that's really creepy. was a joke...anyway dont u find this post sexy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 @dreamwest: dude, you're totally fuckin' up the integrity of intellectual speak amongst this place. We can't have trolls masturbating to threads in Misc... that's really creepy. Might I suggest the porn thread in the staff area? Oh wait.. I shouldn't discuss that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs.punk Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Those burning flames smell like a good lawsuit. @dreamwest: dude, you're totally fuckin' up the integrity of intellectual speak amongst this place. We can't have trolls masturbating to threads in Misc... that's really creepy. +1... lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamwest Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 +1... lol troll much?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maq Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Wow, scary situation. Did anything get messed up? Yeah I've heard of a few people who caused small fires due to not emptying the lint collector. Scary, I forget to clean it all the time. Thanks for the reminder! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuickOldCar Posted May 2, 2011 Author Share Posted May 2, 2011 My clothes were scorched, and of course the dryer was shot. But nothing else in the house was damaged, I luckily caught the fire as soon as it happened. Besides the lint trap it's also good to clean out the underneath of the drum, you need to remove the back panel, you'll find fabric softener sheets and also more lint there, even money sometimes, never usually more than a dollar bill and loose change oddly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gizmola Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 i find this post hard to masturbate to Haha. As to this subject, my wife keeps reminding me that the dryer is one of the most common sources of household fires, so we never start the dryer up and leave the house. Our dryer is really old and about a year ago it basically stopped drying. I found some schematics on the internet for it, and figuring I had nothing to lose, decided to take it apart. I bought a new belt for it and set about taking it apart, and I was amazed to find that my perception of what the drum was nothing like the reality. The drum of our dryer is basically a flexible metal tube which is held in place by the two cylinders which can rotate independently from the cylinder pieces, which hold it in place with felt. It's kind of amazing how flimsy the whole thing is once you take it apart. After changing the belt, the dryer would turn, but wouldn't dry, and eventually i found a piece in the heating element that was burned out and fixed that. Both pieces cost me $20 bucks. Having played with it, and seen how the heating works (it's a gas dryer) I'm very aware of the fact that flame is involved now. Of course without the internet I would never have even tried to repair the dryer, nor be able to identify the part numbers of the parts, or known where to order them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fugix Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 that's crazy.. I dont even know what I would do if I saw my dryer on fire...good thing it didnt cause serious damage... and lol to i find this post hard to masturbate to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs.punk Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 +1... lol troll much?? I like turtles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuickOldCar Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 that's crazy.. I dont even know what I would do if I saw my dryer on fire...good thing it didnt cause serious damage My nephew said he would have ran if saw it, unfortunately I would now not have a home if that was the case. Firemen don't get there that fast, by that time the fire would be much larger and now be the house burning. I've seen it so many times........windows put out, doors knocked down, thousands of gallons of water blasted everywhere and usually for a few hours. Smoke and water damage alone can make it unlivable. Their priority is getting out the fire and save lives, not to keep your possessions in good shape. My mom a few years ago lost everything due to one of those little ceramic heaters. It had the built in safety, the dog knocked it over, the safety never tripped and caught the rug on fire. To me.....if you can stand there with your garden hose or drag said burning item out of your house and have a chance to put it out, then go for it. You have everything to lose. At least when the firemen do arrive they may not destroy everything and just do a good check that nothing is burning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maq Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 That's why purchasing home owners insurance is so important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Yup, that's why there is always a fire extinguisher handy at my place. If something goes up, I'm gunna give it a hell of a fight to burn my place down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devWhiz Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 i find this post hard to masturbate to Hmm, I got off just fine... Anyways, Glad everything is ok with you OP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiderwell Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 and the moral of the story is never wash your clothes, unless dreamwest has spaffed on them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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