Derby firefighters venting the roof during Monday morning's fire.
DERBY — A fire at a two-family house on Maple Avenue across from Griffin Hospital was likely an accident that started in a dryer vent, Derby Fire Marshal David Marcarelli said.
Marcarelli’s report is not final, but he provided an update to The Valley Indy on Wednesday.
“I’m leaning toward the clothes dryer exhaust tubing where it came out of the house,” Marcarelli said. “There’s a vent that is supposed to let the dust out of the house. I think there was enough lint build-up there that it caught fire outside. There were cedar shingles outside and some combustibles, and it just went up from there.“
Video from the fire comes from Fireground Images.
Marcarelli said the clothes dryer was the only heat source in the area of the fire, which started on the second-floor exterior wall next to a deck in the rear of the structure.
“Right now I have it narrowed down to that one area,” Marcarelli said.
No injuries were reported in the blaze, which was reported around 9 a.m. Monday (June 19).
The husband and wife who own the home were displaced as a result of the fire, as was a tenant renting the first floor of the 2,700 square-foot home.
Click this link for a previous Valley Indy story.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help the couple recover from the devastating fire. Click here to read and donate.
There were about 14,700 fires caused by clothes dryers between 2010 and 2014, according to The National Fire Protection Association, causing 13 deaths, 444 injuries and $238 million in damage.
In addition to regularly cleaning the lint filter inside of the dryer, attention must be paid to the other spots lint can become trapped, Marcarelli said.
“Most people only think of the lint filter inside of the dryer, but they don’t think about the exhaust vent out of the house. If you have a lot of turns in there, or it moves around over time and it becomes loose or crumpled, the air flow is narrowed and you can get a build up of lint — and they are extremely flammable once hot. It doesn’t take much,” Marcarelli said.
Marcarelli also said dryer fires can be started when people absent-mindedly place clothes with traces of grease or gasoline on them inside the dryer. Marcarelli said he’s investigated dryer fires where the clothes belonged to a mechanic or restaurant worker and had such substances on them.
The NFPA reports that 26 percent of dryer fires are caused by lint, with another 26 percent caused by clothing. The rest of the fires were caused by various machine parts within the dryer.
Marcarelli urged people to not leave the dryer running while not home, nor while sleeping.
See the fact sheet below for other safety tips.
From The National Fire Protection Association's website.
