EDITOR:
On Thanksgiving Day a friend of mine detected a burning smell
being emitted from his four-year-old electric clothes dryer.
EDITOR:
On Thanksgiving Day a friend of mine detected a burning smell being emitted from his four-year-old electric clothes dryer. The motor would not operate and the on button would only produce a groan from the motor. After reading the owner’s manual, he discovered that every two to three years the front panel of the dryer was supposed to be opened and lint cleaned from the dryer element, motor, wiring, and base of dryer. After opening the front of the dyer, he was shocked to discover a two-inch layer of lint blanketing all the controls, motor and base of the dryer. It was soon discovered that the source of the burning smell was the lint on top of the dryer element. On closer inspection, the lint was actually scorched from the hours of prolonged contact. My friend was lucky having only experienced the smell and inconvenience of cleaning his appliance.
Each year there are more than 12,000 clothes dyer-related fires reported in this Country. In the late 1998 alone, fires caused by clothes dyers resulted in 19 deaths, 312 injuries and $67.7 million in direct property damage.
Please read their your owner’s manuals; not only for clothes dyers, but for all home appliances. For more information and other fire-safety tips, please see the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Web site at www.nfpa.org. The NFPA offers a variety of safety tips regarding clothes dryers, Christmas trees, candles, gasoline, propane, smoke alarms, etc.
My friend was very fortunate to have discovered the source of his problem before the lint ignited.
A service call is significantly less of an inconvenience than calling 9-1-1.
Jeff Clet, Fire Chief, Gilroy Fire Department
Submitted Monday, Dec. 8
