Dryer Fire Tonight!!!!!

[dustin92]

As some of you may know, I work as Kitchen Manager at a Christian Summer Camp. Last August, I helped facilitate a donation of a new Washer and Dryer. I had no part in the decision of what was purchased, just in setting the funds in place to make it happen. So, the first week of last September, a new Whirlpool Cabrio Platinum set (one step down from TOL) was delivered. Very nice machines, huge capacity, excellent cleaning. The dryer that was purchased was electric, although there is a connection for either. The laundry is located in the basement of our "Family Cabin" which is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath house meant to be rented out weekly to families. The camp Director's daughter is currently staying there with her 2 kids, ages 5 and around 7 months. Several other staff including myself stay in a separate bunkhouse, but there is only 1 laundry facility. Never had an issue, some take their laundry home etc, so only a few of us actually use the machines. well, tonight I finished up in the kitchen around 8:30, then went over to wash dish cloths, aprons, etc. I started the washer with a decent size load of dishcloths, aprons, and about 6 lined silicone oven mitts. Around 9:45 I went, put the load in the dryer (turned the silicone oven mitts inside out so the lining would dry), and set it to Sanitize. The display read 61 minutes remaining, and I left. As I was getting ready for bed, I got a text from the Director's wife, saying that there had been a fire in the cabin, the dryer caught fire (apparently, when the fire was discovered around 11:00, the display read 58 minutes remaining). I honestly don't know what to think. Everything that I had in that load has been washed and dried many times, in that dryer, on sanitize. I have not seen the damage, but I was sent a picture of the load of laundry on the sidewalk in flames. I don't think I did anything to cause the fire, but I will never know. All I know is the house nearly burned down with an adult and two kids inside. I do know they were able to get the fire out, and the fire department wasn't called, but other than that I don't know the extent of the damage, other than a cooked dryer and a house full of smoke. Right now I'm sitting here wide awake worrying about what could have happened and thanking God it didn't. I will probably know more tomorrow, and also whether or not I still have a job (I honestly didn't do anything to cause it as far as I know!) I was told the fire appeared to have started in the drum, when she opened the door, the load was on fire. I know calls will be made to Whirlpool and the store where the set was purchased tomorrow, but we will probably be out of service with the laundry room for a good while, depending on whether odor elimination needs to be done or not. I will likely be going to the Laundromat later this week, but ironically, I did my personal laundry this afternoon, and all seemed fine. I'm assuming something failed electronically to cause it to overheat.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

That's horrible! I'm glad everyone is ok. a couple of questions do come to mind, though. I want to be very clear that I'm not suggesting it's your job to have answers. If anything, these would be questions for you to ASK:

 

1. You left at 9:45 with 61 minutes on the dial, yet at 11:00 it read 58. How?

2. How did they take flaming laundry out of the dryer, out of the house, and dump it onto the sidewalk (still in flames) and why would they do that and risk setting something else on fire?

3. Why was the fire department not called?

 

Keep us posted. I hope all goes well tomorrow.

 

Jim

 

[dustin92]

1. Electronic controls/moisture sensors.
2. Not a clue, I wasn't there, I just got a picture of flaming laundry on the sidewalk (which is just outside of the laundry area, the dryer is about 10 feet from the stairs, 5 stairs up and directly out the back door)
3. Because the fire was put out with a hose, and honestly, if they had been called to put it out, they may have saved the basement- and the rest of the house would be ashes. we are a few miles out of town here.

 

[dustin92]

Update: I talked with the director and her daughter this morning, and they have been on the phone with the store where the dryer was bought and Whirlpool all morning. As of now, Whirlpool is blaming us (surprise!) Because apparently we use chemicals that will react with the bleach used to wash the rags, and even after they are dry, there is a risk of fire. Am I believing any of that? No. We use mainly standard dishwashing liquid and liquid bleach cleaners, aside from what's used in the dishwasher, but that should never come into contact with our dish cloths. None of the cleaning products we use are flammable. Oil and grease on the towels? Maybe, but as I asked, why didn't this happen before? Apparently the dryer was off when the fire started, so I'm guessing the electronic controls failed and the heating element stayed on. Whirlpool is sending a repair person out monday, and we can't touch the dryer until they've done their investigation, and we had to keep all the burned rags as evidence. I'm guessing the dryer is totaled, apparently all the plastic around the lint filter and door was melted, and the paint on the top and sides of the dryer was yellowed. So, we'll see what happens, but I'm not holding my breath for miracles.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Wow!

Terrible! I wonder could a contributing factor be lint build up in the dryer vent run or the dryer itself? Not the actual lint screen, but believe it or not, lint gets EVERYWHERE in the dryer (at least a lot of dryers, maybe not all).

We had a discussion about this on another thread. I have a Whirlpool Duet dryer, and when I take the bottom panel off every few years underneath is FULL of lint that I have to spend an hour vacuuming and cleaning. Lint itself a major fire hazard, and I thought most dryer fires were caused from lint build up within the dryer or the vent run, causing the dryer to overheat...Chemical reactions never occurred to me...

 

[dustin92]

Lint buildup could have contributed to it, but the dryer is less than a year old, and the vent was cleaned when it was installed. The vent run is very short, out the back of the dryer, then straight up about 4 feet and exits at a 90 degree angle. I'm just thinking if it was a chemical reaction, why did this not happen before? We have used the same detergent and bleach combination since last summer, even before the new washer and dryer- Purex Natural Elements detergent and a semi heavy dose of dollar store bleach. Heavy Duty cycle, hot water, extra rinse. And why did the fire start after the dryer had stopped? Would it have not been more likely while the dryer was running on a high temperature sanitize cycle? I'm thinking Whirlpool is just trying to cover their own behind, whether or not it was a mechanical failure.

 

[henene4]

Well...

I guess, though you did nothing apparently wrong, you might get into some trouble.

First of: You can do something 1000 times, and the 1001 time, you fail catastrophicly. Always keep that in mind.

Now: You said you put in silicon items? If Whirlpool gets to know that, they will never ever pay a penny and may even let you come up for the costs of inspecting the dryer. The WP dryer manuals I read clearly state not to dry silicon items. You just can't get arround that. And especially, drying these on Sanitize is a thing I would NEVER risk, even if they are ment to survive that heat.
There are ways bleach residues can higher the fire hazzard. Basicly, bleach reacts with the opticly active hydrocarbon chains and oxidizes them. This is a exothermal reaction, means, it releases energy.
Now you heat up that damp laundry. Especially the mitts being outside out during wash, with silicon out and fiberes inside, might not have been rinsed well. Now, the rest of the load seemed rather light. The badly rinsed linig of the mitts faces outwards.

Under these circumstances, it might verry well be possible that, after the dryer finished, the mitts were still damp and hot, as the rest was dryed faster and sensed dry. The bleach (now activated by heat) caused some verry small amout of heat to develop.
And just like with spontaneus combustion in clusters of hay or simmilar, a spontaneus reaction chain started, causing more heat and finally, the fire.

Or one of the mitts got caught at the air duct into the drum, where, naturally, temperatures are the highest.

The reason I say that is that a turned of dryer with a heater running is less likely to start a fire. The heater is made of verry thin wires. And laundry and heater are only thermally coupled via air. The dryer was off, so there was no air stream, so close to no heat transfer away from the heater to the laundry.
If the heater turns on without air blown over, it overheates rather quickly (almost like a insulated 5000 watt heating blanket).
Now, if the mechanic thermal safety switches failed (they make it physicly impossible for the heater to run if they activate) - which is unlikely - the heater would probably just clean burn through.
As long as nothing flameable like lint got caught on it, there is basicly no ignition risk.

I get that was a pretty dangerus and bad situation. And I don't want to accuse you of anything.
But it might actually have been you fault this time, maybe not completly, possibly not at all. But it certanly could have been.

I hope this turns out OK for everybody.

Hoping the best
Henrik

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

I remember at least 25-years-ago when I was working at Arbor Drugs and there was a fire at a coin laundromat right near by it that we faced the back of...

 

Those who could rescue their laundry had everything in a bunch of damp-to-wet, still half-dirty/half-clean, half-wet/half-dry, etc. on the ground...

 

While the fire dept. put out what was most-likely caused by one or more of the driers igniting in more than just the chamber where the heat gets produced...

 

There was a sign on that back door of the laundry which was one of the entrances, as well as most-likely on the front of the building stating that 'Due To A Fire, that the Laundromat would be Closed'...

 

(It closed for Halloween, as well...!)

 

 

 

-- Dave

 

[iheartmaytag]

Since you mentioned that you had washed Kitchen towels and mitts, I am wondering if the cooking oil was what started the combustion process?

Every dryer manual I have read warns against drying that may have contained cooking oil as the temps of the dryer could lead to a fire.

Just wondering if this is what happened. In that case I would almost say Whirlpool's assessment is accurate and they are not at fault. Time to call the insurance company.

 

[mark_wpduet]

God that makes me nervous

because I have totally done that in the past! Washed items that may have contained oil (who hasn't???) and then dried them! And there is that big fat warning on the dryer that says "not washer can remove oil completely, please do not dry items that had oil on them", but I did it anyway!

 

[iheartmaytag]

We have all done it.

And if like me done it on at least a weekly basis.

 

[yogitunes]

well, there are definitely going to be questions asked.....and their going to want answers sorry to say.....

by both Whirlpool/Investigators and the Insurance Company.....

THAT's the whole reason behind signs like this placed on machines, someone way before this incident has already done it, may be sued Whirlpool, and this is how they now get around it.......how do you think 'lid locks' all started, someone stuck their hand into a moving machine.....

as mentioned, any hint of just something like simple vegetable oil, would be triggered as user error......these instructions are clearly printed on both the washer and dryer, and in the instruction booklet...

yes, we have all done it, without actually thinking, same goes for washing regular work clothes from someone like a mechanic.....I do test loads all the time from a load like this......but there is always the potential for a fire to happen.....no one can predict which load is going to be the final straw......

some things don't add up, small enough of a blaze to be contained, yet massive damage.....and a dryer that caught fire, hot enough to melt plastic, but not the wiring, and yet the display still works....that's one rugged control board!

relax and breathe, for the most part, everything will be alright.....any damage to the property will be repaired, a replacement dryer will be installed, and you'll be back on track in a few weeks......were all thankful no one was injured....

for anyone out there, this may be a good time to check your own vents, in and outside of the dryer cleaned of any lint, and check batteries of your smoke detectors, or install new ones.....

you only have to have this happen once for a lesson to be learned, at least, don't leave the house with any appliance like a washer or dryer running, you can't be too safe.....we too have done this a millions times, but it only takes once....safety first.....

 

[washerdude]

This reminds me of something...

Our 7 month duet washer randomly unlocks during the cycle. Its usually after (most of the time) spin cycles and rarly after a wash/rinse cycle. But once it really gave me a fright. It unlocked WHILE IT WAS FILLING. Right when i went to get my phone to take the picture, I think the pressure sensor realized it had reached the water it needed, but the door was unlocked so the cycle did not continue. This i think, is NOT the lid lock but i think this is well enough the pesky crap boards used in the machines. Though it hasen't done it for 2 months now, im still on edge about it. This actually brings me to a story my neighbor told me.

She had a fairly old kenmore dryer. She said that the family smelled a minor burning smell all day but didn't think much of it. They remembered they had to get a new drain hose for the washer because it was leaking. So they bought one and called someone over to repair it. While the repairman was working on the washer, his hand slipped and it went right on to the back panel of the dryer and he yelled. He then went to the home owners and asked "did you use your dryer today?" Strange enough, the dryer had not been in use for 2 days. This later got down to being the heating element on even though the dryer was off.

I think either 2 things could have happend. 1. The control board, I say this because I've personally had an experiance that is most likly something to do with the computer board. And 2, oil on the rags. I really do hope everything turns out fine for you and everyone else. Good luck!

 

[askolover]

Just a few weeks ago I had the very strong urge to replace the venting for my dryer.  When I moved into this house, it did not have a laundry room....the washer was sitting beside the kitchen stove and the gas dryer was in the shed out back.  My ex and I built a laundry closet and put everything in there...gas water heater, washer beside the WH (so I have TRUE hot water plus a booster in the washer) and a GE gas dryer.  At the time, in a crunch we just ran foil dryer hose about  15 feet under the house to the outside wall.  Well lately I've noticed it's taking much longer to dry stuff so it clicked in my brain (out of sight, out of mind) that I need to put in rigid piping...so I did.  Still have a small section to finish off but the 15 feet of brand new well-insulated duct made a huge difference.  It will be so much easier to clean with one of those brushes attached to a drill from outside. I'm anal retentive about lint in my dryer itself because my mother's old WP almost caught fire when I was a kid and a neighbor's house did when she put clothes in the dryer and left for work.  It smoldered all day and caused a lot of smoke damage.  Since then, I do NOT like to leave or go to bed with clothes in the dryer.  We had a GE FF washer that the water valve got stuck too and we were outside....for just a short while and came in to find a creek coming down the hall where the washer was overflowing. 

 

After a little rambling my final thoughts about the above post...my first instinct would be to think something with the electronic controls.  There have been instances of dishwashers catching fire because of the boards, I've seen personally a washer that melted the front panel due to a faulty board.  I REALLY DO NOT like electronics in washers and dryers.  Some things are better left untouched.  Let us know what they say.

 

[gusherb]

I put a solid metal vent on our dryer 7 years ago after two years of it taking far too long on the old cobbled together mess that was half vinyl duct and half corrugated aluminum (the aluminum was the half that connected to the dryer)
The run is exactly 14 feet long so changing it to the metal helped dramatically. I clean the flaps of the vent cover periodically because they get stuck open and allow cold air into the dryer but I have never cleaned that duct, and it's gotten pretty linty. I also vacuum the build up from under where the lint filter goes.

One of these days I wanna redo that metal ducting and remove several elbows from it, clean it out, and take the dryer apart and clean it out. The only problem is its a Samsungtag dryer without a removable front panel so I think the whole thing has to come apart. I'd honestly rather just replace it with a matching SQ gas dryer then do that! (Those get a lot of build up but are easy to clean)

 

[dustin92]

I feel so bad about it, especially if something I did caused it, but I want to believe there was a failure in the dryer. I can't count the number of times we have done the same loads, the same exact way. Daily, all summer. I finish cleaning up the kitchen, walk the dirty laundry over, wash it, then put it in the dryer before going to bed. Repeat the next day. If it truly was caused by some reaction, I guess we have been lucky up until now. I have offered to donate a dryer if Whirlpool can't repair it and won't replace it.

 

[wayupnorth]

I just bought a new flex aluminum duct to connect and replace to the old Maytag and get rid of the old vinyl pipe. I have a window right beside the dryer and just stick the vent out the window with panels in the winter that I made to seal and I just close the window on it and pull it out and put it away when the dryer is finished and lock the window. Several years ago, more like 30 ish, I had the same dryer connected to an outside vent where I lived before and forgot to hit the start button when the phone rang, remembered next morning and everything was froze solid, so alot of air leagage. My next door neighbor is a fire chief and he told me lint buildup is the main cause of dryer fires next to electrical issues and says you should only use your washer and dryer when you are there and just dont set it and take off somewhere and hope it works well. You could burn down or get flooded.

 

[philr]

Most of my dryers have notes about not drying clothes that have been in solvents but I have never seen anything about oil. I wash and dry a lot of things that have been in oil or solvent (I just washed a T-shirt that I cleaned with Gun Wash thinner as I had spilled some paint on it). I rinsed it quite well and let it dry before I washed it in the machine and it didn't smell at all, I felt it was safe to dry it in my 1965 Filtrator after but I'll be more cautious! 

 

[supersurgilator]

DO u have any pics of the towels or of the machine? i'd be curious to see the damage it actually caused.