Last Night the Dryer Caught Fire

[dreamshark]

That was sure fun. We kinda knew the dryer was wearing out, what with the clunking noise it was making and all, but we didn't expect it to burst into flames. Well, smoke mostly, but a lot of smoke. It wasn't lint caught in the dryer chimney like most dryer fires; something on the underneath side of the appliance actually caught fire and scorched the bottom of the drum so badly that the clothes in the drum started to burn. This was at 3 am, which is when the people I live with think is a good time to do laundry. Fortunately I just happened to get up to use the bathroom, smelled the smoke and yelled downstairs to Richard, who hadn't noticed a thing. He ran down to the basement and heroically pumped the dryer full of water from the nearby laundry sink. The house still reeks of smoke, but at least we still have a house. And naturally, like most Americans, we had let the batteries go dead in all our smoke detectors. Bad move.

Must buy a dryer tomorrow, I guess. And maybe some batteries?

Comments

WoW!

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

You gotta replace the batteries?

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

I think the ones we have beep when their batteries are low. But after a while they give up.

[ssprince.livejournal.com]

I had one do that a couple of years ago and was too freaked out to replace it. One of the scariest things in my life. Of course I mooched dryer loads here & there, and am lucky there hasn't been a cold damp summer since (that's when there's likely to be someome besides me around).

[daedala.livejournal.com]

Eek! I'm glad y'all are ok.

Eek!

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

Oh no! I was over there Friday for gaming and Thorin never mentioned this. (Of course I wouldn't smell any lingering smokiness.) I am glad you got the fire out in time.

- L

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

We recover quickly from trauma around here. aka "short attention spans"