Lint fire

[thomasortega]

Bad news...

It's almost unbeliveable how could I forget my dryer's preventive manteinance schedule.

Well, i've been too busy lately and I must confess i was procrastinating the service... of course something really bad had to happen.

Last night (12 hours ago) I loaded my Electrolux Ecoturbo (same as Frigidaire Affinity) electric dryer and a fire started at the door sensor.

Luckily I was in front of the dryer and noticed the fire instantly after it started. my reaction was fast, but the situation was really scary.

first I pulled the emergency shut off and the fire alarm in my kitchen, then I ran to the elevator hall to get the building's fire extinguisher. I forgot there is an extinguisher next to the stove in the kitchen..

All took not more thand 30 seconds. when I came back, the first sprinkler right above the dryer was deployed and the flames reaching the ceiling. LINT BURNS FAST!

The chemical powder extinguisher did nothing to the fire, but it made a huge mess. the whole apartment is covered with a thin layer of white powder.

I had to get the fire hose. It worked, but the damage was huge. the dryer was already damaged by the fire. three washers (Electrolux Ecoturbo, Electrolux LT60 and Electrolux LQ11 were damaged by water)

When the extinguisher became empty, i just throwed it to the side to start running to get the hose. It landed on the LQ11 and broke it's glass lid.

Luckily, nobody was hurt, but now I have a huge mess to clean.

And you? when was the last time you vaccumed your dryer(s)?

 

[maytagbear]

I am glad you are all right,

Thomas. I would imagine that you were more frightened AFTER the fire was out.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[thomasortega]

Honestly...

It's sad to see dead machines. but at the same time... wooooooooo hooooooooooo Electrolux said they're going to cover all the damages.

It means 3 new washers and a new dryer. plus all the cleaning cost (I had to hire a cleaning company) and any other damages caused by the fire or the water.

 

[yogitunes]

I clean mine every six months....but i didn't stop a fire from happening, a mouse gathered lint from the trash and other scraps and built a nest inside my frigidaire gallery gas dryer, he had that dryer packed all around the tub, it was a quick burst of flash fire when it happened, and burned up him and his little family, and then went out, no property damage, but I did get rid of the dryer, burnt wires and such, and now I check and clean the inside of the dryers as well every time...you never know

but were thankful your OK

 

[thomasortega]

But there's something I always say and of course i had to ignore last night.

In case of fire, NEVER use a chemical powder fire extinguisher.
It's thousands of times better if you let everything burn instead of cleaning the mess it does.

In my case (flammable solids) it didn't work (If works only with flamable liquids or electric fires).
If I had used the hose firstly, the only damages would be the machines plus a clean (pure water) flood.

 

[whirlcool]

If you have a fireplace, you can make firestarter bricks by adding dryer lint to a little bit of wax. The lint is that flammable!

Was it the lint filter you forgot to clean, or the inside of the machine?

 

[Hometechdoc]

wow fast response

how did you get a company like Electrolux to promise to make reparis so quickly (less than 12 hours). That is impressive customer service. Especially considering you had multiple machines hooked up in a residential environment and they agreed to repair or replace all of them.

 

[Hometechdoc]

Post pics

It would be interesting to see the demage. It would motivate us to clean our vents too if we saw the damage

 

[paulc]

Thomas

you must have got such a fright, am glad you are ok.

 

[a440]

Glad you are okay???

Gee....

How much lint did you have in that dryer to cause such a flash fire?! Isn't the element in the back of the dryer? The dryer was filled with wet clothes? And the lint fire started at the door? Were you drying your clothes that you cleaned with gasoline?

I am glad for you that Electrolux gave you such a fast responds on paying for everything in such a short amount of time....

I am thinking about calling Electrolux myself and telling them the same story and see what I can get out of them. Heck...it is worth a try!

 

[autowasherfreak]

Glad you are safe, and that the damage was worse. Having three dogs and five cats, I clean mine out every three months are so using one of those flexible dryer brushes.

 

[circlew]

Yes, along with Brent, I'd like to see pics, too. That must have been some collection of lint to cause enough heat to activate a sprinkler (in North America at least 135F near the ceiling for about a minute or so is required to activate them). There must have been something else burning. I can't imagine the dryer itself being made of enough flamable materials to cause such a fire, as any decent dryer would have a nearly all metal cabinet. It's obvious the clothes themselves wouldn't be burning if you had just placed them into the machine wet. Or did you put dry items in to tumble to remove wrinkles? Were flamable items stacked on top the machine?

You said you tried using a dry chemical extinguisher on it, without success. Well, I guess it wouldn't have any effect, as the water from the sprinkler system would obviously wash it away. What was still burning after the sprinkler had been spraying out anywhere from 10-30 gpm of water that you had to get the hose to put it out? Also, how many fire trucks showed up? Any hunky firemen? Get a date with any of them? In a large building like you've said you live in, I'd think the alarm and sprinkler systems would be tied in to a monitoring center that would alert the FD.

As for Electrolux replacing the damaged machines, I find that odd; doing so would be admitting that their product had a defect that caused or contributed to the fire. Was there something about the design or construction of the dryer that made it collect an undue amount of lint? If not, I'd think your insurance would be responsible for making payment.

Anyway, sorry you had a fire. It's smart of you to live in a sprinklered building.

 

[whirlcool]

The user guide for our Whirlpool dryer states that every three tears we should have a serviceman out to take off the cabinet and thoroughly vacuum the dryer out. otherwise you'll run a risk of fire. I've been doing this task myself.

Now how many people do you know who NEVER do this through the life of the dryer?

See what I mean.

 

[sudsman]

Wow how neat that Electrolux is going to COVER ALL

the damages for all.. And in record time too. I sure would have thought they would have to send some one out to look at things first..and then maybe... Bet I could not get them to ANYTHING like that here. Would love to see the pics too.

 

[simpsomatic]

Ripleys believe it or not....

I thought the show was cancelled?

 

[thomasortega]

Clothes weren't damaged, the fire didn't reach the drum or even the lint filter.

It started at the door switch (I believe it was , on the right side of the dryer, betwen the drum and the cabinet.

The cabinet was full of lint (enough to fill some pillows).

There's usually some boxes of my imported detergents above the dryer, but a few days ago I bought a laundry trolley to put them (Thank God) and there was absolutely nothing above the dryer (maybe some lint dust, but not relevant)

The distance between the dryer and the ceiling is less than 30 cm. the horizontal distance between the corner of the dryer's cabinet and the sprinkler is 10 cm

There wasn't too much flames it wasn't a monster fire but i had to use the hose because both sprinkler fog and extinguisher couldn't reach the fire. THe only area i had was a gap in the middle of the control panel, right above the door and under the control dial.

The extinguisher did nothing but "agitate" the lint, feeding the fire instead of sufocating it.

To make things even worse, i have a wooden panel between the washer/dryer and the sink, to protect the dryer from spills. so the dryer looks like built in on the right side theres a very small space (10cm) just to reach the power outlets. and on the left side that fu**ing board, so it was impossible to reach the dryer by it's back.

The fire damages in the laundry room were minor. the walls are ceramic tiled and the ceiling is painted concrete. I'll have to repaint the ceiling because it's a little burned (not black, brown becase all that washer washed off some of the burns)

About fire department, they came (and yes, the system is connected, like on every building here in my estate) only the first truck arrived and it wasn't necessary.
The only thing the firemen did (they arrived after the end of the fire) was reset the pull station and and remove the sprinkler and put a plug to close the pipe.

They were so stupid that they didn't even opened the dryer. and honestly i didn't think about looking at them, but knowing firemen here in Iguassu, i bet they were ugly and fat.

My neighbour and the concierge helped me unstalling the dryer and put it on the floor to remove the top cover and see what exactly happened. (AFTER THE FIREMEN GAVE THE ALL CLEAR)

And many minutes after the chaos, I was alone in the kitchen showing everything to Steve and some smoke started to come out of the lint again. I got a jug on the sink and throwed it exactly where the smoke was.

I couldn't sleep that night. You know... I decided to stay there "only 5 minutes more" and when I realized it was 6 am and the sun was high.

Electrolux (the factory) said they're going to refould all the damages i had because the machine is less than 1 year old (under warranty) and of course they don't wan't an ex-worker and reasonably famous blogger, tv host and writer for a VIP variety local magazine making any comment like "Electrolux dyer fire" (yes, something has changed in my life a few months ago, that's why i had no time to post here)

By the way, this is not the best thread to post the good news, but as I already mentioned it... Feel free to visit my blog www.praticozinha.blogspot.com or the website where you can read the whole magazine I write the gourmet section. www.divamag.com

You can use google translator (it won't translate 100% correctly, but the texts will be understandable.)

 

[thomasortega]

By the way...

I'll post the pictures as soon as the Electrolux service email them.

 

[toggleswitch]

Sorry to hear.

Yes please post pictures. That will make this more real to me!

Quote: If you have a fireplace, you can make firestarter bricks by adding dryer lint to a little bit of wax. The lint is that flammable.

So why in heavens's name do people use dryer sheets whose only function is to add wax to the machine and the lint. It is is fire WAITING to happen.

 

[toggleswitch]

Je m'aime avec toute ma coeur......

Quote.

And of course they don't wasn't an ex-worker and reasonably famous blogger, TV host and writer for a VIP variety local magazine making any comment like "Electrolux dryer fire" (yes, something has changed in my life a few months ago, that's why I had no time to post here).

LOL!

Did the firemen force you drop the hand-held mirror as they came in? (ducks and runs)