I almost burned my house down!

~Roo'sMama~ wrote: I'm really bad at remembering to empty the lint catch thingy in my dryer, and tonight I was doing some laundry... I put the clothes in the dryer and went upstairs to get my sheets and put away some clothes, came back down and started to put the sheets in the washer and noticed a funny smell like burning hair. Right away I was like "oh no the lint catcher!" and pulled it open - it was crammed full and the dryer was super hot all over and smelled really bad.
We have no working smoke alarms in the house yet, no fire extinguisher, and my phone doesn't have 911 service. (we have our phone through the internet) Plus I don't know the # to call for the nearest fire dept... I live in a tiny town and I'm not even sure if there is a fire dept. here.
I can just picture Scott coming home to his wife out on the front yard sobbing and clinging to the cat, with half the house burned down. The only good thing would be we'd have some insurance money to finally get some work done on the house! Hmm..... maybe I should have left it!

loveydad replied: scary stuff. when my son was 14 or so he almost burnt down his room. He left a candle out.

mummy2girls replied: Scarey!!!!!!!! Im glad you caught it before it happened!

coasterqueen replied: Yikes! I didn't know a dryer could get that hot because of a lint trap. I always clean mine out because the dryer doesn't dry well without doing so. What does it take you to dry a load...3 hours? Just kidding .

Glad you are going to be able to make improvements on the house. I'd be freaking out if those things weren't done when the baby comes .

kimberley replied: oh no! glad you caught in time and everything is ok! you really should have smoke/carbon monoxide detectors in the house. at least one near the bedrooms. maybe this happened so you would have all your ducks in a row before baby comes .

Allyson&Patrick'sMom replied: OMG! That is how my Mothers house burned down while DD and I were sleeping 7 years ago November 19th...1997. It was not the fact that she never emptied the trap, but the dryer was old and the lint built up behind the barrel......I woke up to a foul smell I thought it was the furnace because of an oil delivery the day before, then I heard the buzzer on the dryer, I opened the dryer to smoke and flames shooting out at me, I tried to put it out, but it was an electrical fire and the fuse box was outside...I just let it burn....I called 911, I grabbed DD out of her crib and gave her to a neighbor and went back in to find my Cat....I got as far as the dinning room and the smoke was to much and then I saw flames on the cieling and ran out....I tried to call my mom, but as a bus driver for a school the garage could not just call her and tell her that her house was burning down, so her boss said to go to WaWa because his son needed a ride and met her there and brought her home.

We lost EVERYTHING, there I was a single mom of a 1 year old, my Mom hads her whole life lost in the fire.....but the important thing is we got out!

So NOW every year I have the Sears Man come out and clean the back of my dryer.....you can do it on your own, but, I would rather have him do it, since my DH and I paid for the Maintenance plan. So I advise you all to have an extinguisher that works on ALL types of fires, because the Cheap Generic one does not stop electrical fires....check batteries in smoke detectors.....it is a scary thing. You never think it will happen to you...but it can.

coasterqueen replied:
THat's good advice. We don't clean ours out every year, well maybe DH does but I do know he DOES clean out that tubing behind the dryer because it can clog up so easily and it definitely IS a fire hazard.

So sorry that happened to you.

A&A'smommy replied: LOLOLOL your halarious!! Wow I'm really bad at changing the lint catcher too but I have never had it do that I'm seriously glad you didn't burn your house down!!!

5littleladies replied: I'm just glad it wasn't the cat!

Maddie&EthansMom replied: Scotty is always harping on me to clean out the lint trap! I forget about it, too. He pulls out the washer and dryer once a month and cleans under and behind them. (and on top of them)

~Roo'sMama~ replied:

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
That is good advice... our dryer is old too and I wouldn't be surprised if it was built up back there, especially since I don't empty it enough.
I'm going to talk to Dh about getting smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors, and a fire extinguisher. We were planning on getting all of these things when we moved in, but we had almost no money right then and then somehow we forgot about it after things picked up again.

Karen - I do have to run the dryer twice sometimes to get stuff dry. I guess that should have given me a hint that I needed to empty it!

Josie83 replied: O dear . . . I'm glad that you were alright. my memory is awful too! xx

ediep replied: oh my! That is scary!!
I aalways empty the lint thingy, but I never knew the lint could build up anywhere else. I'll talk to Dh about this

Kirstenmumof3 replied: OMG how scary for you! Glad everything is okay!

A&A'smommy replied:
either I'm really blond or I'm missing something, is there a funny story to share?

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
LOL sorry I didn't see this.
My cat likes to sleep in the washer and dryer - I'm always afraid I'll start a load with him in there. Luckily he usually meows and crawls out whenever I'm in there.

A&A'smommy replied:
Ohhhh okay lol!

texasp3 replied: Wow... I'm freaked out about my dryer now. I empty the trap regularly... but it's OLD and I don't think we've EVER cleaned the back, barrel, tube... whatever.

Um.. Aimee, you want to lend me your hubby? Just kidding... I know what DH and I will be doing next time he's home!!