Onondaga County, New York reports more fires during the winter months because people are using fireplaces, wood stoves and space heaters, according to many of the county fire departments.
But a clothes dryer can be just as dangerous any time of the year, according to Elbridge resident John Stevenson, who owns Dryer Vent Wizard. Lint is the villain – lint that has been allowed to linger too long. Stevenson explains dryer vent maintenance and fire prevention to all his customers.
“It’s something very few people know about or think about,” said Stevenson,
whose company specializes in dryer vent cleaning, maintenance, alteration and repair. “It’
It’s the lint you don’t see that can be the problem – not the lint in the lint trap that a conscientious person would remove with each load, he said. It’s the lint that can build up in the dryer vent line.
“When a dryer gets clogged with lint, it doesn’t give the dryer any room to breathe,” Stevenson said. “That can cause the lint to catch on fire.” Lint accumulation also can cause dryers to stop working or to work inefficiently, he said. The tip-off can be anything from a load taking repeated cycles to dry or a load getting hot but staying wet.
Early in January, he received a call from the owners of an Erie Village residence whose dryer wasn’t working very well.
Upon initial inspection of the dryer vent termination point, Stevenson saw some straw built up in the end of the rigid metal vent line. A thorough cleaning of the full length of their dryer vent removed the accumulated lint as well as the bird’s nest that had been built in the line. This vent was covered with a “critter guard”, but the nest was built either before it was installed or by a bird that could fit through the small opening (1/2”) of the “critter guard”.
In addition to the vent line cleaning, Stevenson also replaced the plastic accordion transition piece that connected the dryer to the metal vent line in the wall with a rigid aluminum metal duct.
According to the U.S. Fire Administration, dryer fires account for an average of 15,000 fires with an approximate $88 million in property damage, 15 deaths and 400 injuries annually. “Failure to clean” was cited as the leading factor contributing to clothes dryer fires in residential buildings.
On a positive note, the number of clothes dryer fires has dropped by 35% from the 24,000 fires that occurred annually, on average, in the late 1970’s.
Don’t let your clothes dryer start a fire; Keep your home safe and sound. Dryer Vents is ALL we do; We ARE the experts! Call us for an inspection, repair, cleaning and installation service today! http://www.dryerventwizard.com
Contact:
John Stevenson
5716 Crossett Road
Elbridge, NY 13060
Phone: 315-382-
Email: jstevenson@
Website: http://www.dryerventwizard.com
This press release was submitted by Right Now Marketing Group, LLC
