TFRS Volume 13, Issue 7/Clothes Dryer Fires in Residential Buildings (2008-2010) Page 7
Examples
The following are recent examples of clothes dryer fires
reported by the media:
• March 2012: A family was displaced after a clothes
dryer fire quickly spread and destroyed their two-story
Colonial home in Readington, NJ. The blaze, which
started on the second floor and rapidly spread to the rest
of the house, kept crews from the local fire companies
and a tanker task force on the scene for more than two
and a half hours. No one was injured, and neighboring
homes were not damaged.
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• March 2012: A load of clothes in a dryer ignited a fire
that displaced residents from their home in Chapel Hill,
NC. The Chapel Hill Fire Department was dispatched
to the 63-year-old home and quickly discovered that
a dryer in the unfinished basement was the source of
smoke reported by the residents. Firefighters extin-
guished a load of clothes in the dryer that had caught
fire and then removed the dryer from the home. No
injuries were reported.
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• February 2012: Investigators believe a clothes dryer
sparked a fire in a Cornelius, OR home causing approxi-
mately $75,000 in damage. The homeowner had put
clothes in the dryer and was playing with her son in
another room when she heard two loud noises from the
laundry room. After discovering smoke coming from
the dryer, the woman ran upstairs to get her sleeping
daughter, grabbed her son, and got out of the house.
She then called 9-1-1. No injuries were reported, but
the fire caused “serious smoke damage” throughout the
house and “significant damage” in the laundry room
and nearby bathroom and playroom.
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Clothes Dryer Venting Systems
In order to prevent possible fire hazards, building codes
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require that clothes dryers be exhausted directly to the
outdoors. Venting a dryer into attics, soffits, ridge vents, or
crawl spaces is expressly prohibited.
The codes require that dryer vents be made of metal with
smooth interior finishes, sections of vent duct be securely
supported and firmly sealed together, and the total length
of the vent duct not exceed 35 feet (shorter if there are
turns or bends). Flexible transition ducts used to connect
the dryer to the exhaust duct system are required to be not
longer than eight feet, not concealed within construction,
and listed and labeled in accordance with Underwriters
Laboratories (UL) 2158A.
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New construction trends often situate washers and dryers
in nontraditional areas of the house, such as upstairs bed-
rooms, hallways, bathrooms, kitchens, and closets. These
new sites may require longer dryer vent ducts in order to
reach an outside wall. If a dryer vent is too long or has
many bends and turns, moisture in the warm air passing
through it condenses on the vent surfaces, attracting lint.
Eventually, the lint accumulates and creates resistance.
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Thus, it is crucial for homeowners to regularly inspect and
clean out the dryer vent.
All manufacturers now state in their manuals not to use
plastic, flexible dryer ducts between the vent and the
clothes dryer. Many homes, however, continue to use plas-
tic, flexible ducts.
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The plastic itself can provide additional
fuel for a fire. Even flexible foil vents are not a good choice
for venting clothes dryers. Flexible vents can twist, allow-
ing lint to build up and catch on fire if it comes in contact
with a sufficient amount of heat. If a fire starts beneath the
dryer when the motor overheats, then the drafts from the
dryer can pull the fire up into the duct, allowing a house
fire to develop.
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Only flexible transition ducts that are
listed by UL or another approved product safety testing
agency should be used.
Serious hazards occur when dryer vents do not exhaust
directly to the outside. Faulty installations can vent dryer
exhaust into the attic, crawl space, chimney, or interior
walls, which can cause indoor air deterioration and mold
buildup.
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Small birds and animals that nest in dryer vents
or other debris can obstruct air flow and prevent proper
venting to the outside.
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By observing a few simple indications of poor system per-
formance, it can be determined whether the dryer compo-
nents need to be examined for any blockage or excessive
heat. If heavy clothes such as blue jeans or towels are tak-
ing a long time to dry, or clothes feel hotter than usual at
the end of the cycle, a clogged dryer vent exhaust is likely
the problem.
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