A fire caused by an overloaded clothes dryer Sept. 30 is prompting the Airdrie Fire Department (AFD) to issue a reminder to residents about the importance of proper installation and maintenance of household appliances.
“When we look at appliances of any sort, there’s always manufacturer’s recommendations to maintain it safely – that’s a good place for anyone to start, by reading the manuals that come with the appliances,” said Deputy Fire Chief Garth Rabel. “They will tell you how it’s been engineered to be safe and efficient.”
In the case of clothes dryers, Rabel said, owners should be checking the appliance yearly for wear and tear.
“Make sure the belts, the drum, the controls, the door – everything is working and functioning properly,” he said. “In this case, there was a pretty heavy load put into the dryer. If you overload dryers, of course, they have to work harder.”
The AFD was called to Mackenzie Way S.E. at approximately 10:20 a.m., Rabel said, after a resident noted smoke coming from an in-suite dryer on the third floor of the four-storey apartment complex. Approximately 35 residents who were home at the time evacuated after hearing the fire alarm. An Airdrie Transit bus was brought to the scene so evacuees would have a warm and safe place to wait, he added.
“In this case, an element overheated and then ignited the clothes within the dryer drum itself,” Rabel said. “There was quite heavy smoke conditions on the third floor, and it took a while to move that smoke, get air monitoring completed and then deem the area safe for folks to return to.”
The fire was confined to the in-suite laundry room; however, smoke did permeate throughout the apartment and in the third floor common areas, he added. Damage from the fire and smoke is estimated at $30,000.
Following a few simple steps, according to Rabel, can go a long way to ensuring a dryer is well maintained.
“The lint trap should be cleaned before or after every load. If the lint trap is kept clean, you shouldn’t get a lot of that build up in the vent pipes,” he said. “Make sure the pipe is always firmly attached to the back of the dryer so you don’t get that residual condensation and such in the room; it needs to be vented to the outside.”
