I went to the library today and when I came home. My street was blocked off and there was three fire trucks and the fire chiefs car. It took me a couple of seconds to realize it was my house. I guess I did not even realize I did it but I drove around the barricade. When I got out of the house. I did not see my family and I started screaming like a lunatic. Then my husband saw me and told me they were all across the street. Thank God! Luckily it was very minor. Are dryer caught fire. Only the clothes in the dryer and the dryer was ruined. Which was lucky because I had a lot of clothes in the basement. I was doing a lot of closet cleaning and stuff this week and had not really gotten to the laundry. So it was all in the basement. Dk's were a little scared but took it well. My dd 3 was crying they said about her toys and stuff she thought she was going to lose. Ds 6 was sad because his spider man sweat suit burned up. I explained that things can be replaced. This is such a good reminder to go over fire plans with your kids. My son had actually done it this week at school. But when the time came he ran out the back door instead of the front and dh had to find him. It was a little scary for a minute. I am just glad things were not worse. We only have to buy a new dryer. Not visit a love one in the hosptial or worse. I will definately being praising the lord for awhile.

By Karen~moderator on Saturday, October 23, 2004 - 11:46 pm:

OMG Beth! You guys are SO fortunate it wasn't worse!!! Bobbie just recently had a fire with her dryer too! And Amy lost everything in a fire last December.

It gives me chills to even think about it! Do you even know *why* the dryer caught fire??? Was it the dryer itself, or is it the wiring?

That's enough to totally terrify everyone. Thank goodness you're all OK!

{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}

By Insaneusmcwife on Saturday, October 23, 2004 - 11:52 pm:

Oh My, I'm glad everyone is o.k.

By Kellyj on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 12:17 am:

Wow...Thank goodness everyone is okay!

I am always afraid of the dryer catching fire. Ours is circa 1970s and I won't let it run while I'm gone or at night. Your story makes me glad that I'm super paranoid.

Thankfully you didnt lose much.

By Tink on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 12:27 am:

I'm so glad to hear that everyone is safe. Yes, things CAN be replaced and it doesn't sound like there were many things to be replaced. Thank Goodness!

By Dawnk777 on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 12:51 am:

I'm glad everyone is okay!

By Bobbie~moderatr on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 01:27 am:

My drier caught fire a week ago Wednesday night. Luckily I was sitting to where I saw the smoke coming out of the hallway and I had my self under enough control to put it out myself. If I had gone to bed and left it running I don't think I would have been so lucky. I have a fire extinguisher in my kitchen I grabbed it and put out the fire. My kids slept through the whole thing. Thank God for home owners insurance because I got a new drier and the electrical box fixed. With a family of 7 you can not go with out a drier. I do three loads of laundry a day. LOL And mine was electrical the thing that makes the drier fan kick on to cool down the motor went out and the motor over heated and caught fire. Sure was a scary night. Glad you all are okay and that the damage wasn't any worse.

By Unschoolmom on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 07:31 am:

Good time to make sure everyones dryers are venting properly to the outside. Remember to check the venting hose for lint buildup occasionally and if the hose is a vinyl one, get rid of it right away and replace with an aluminum type. The vinyl ones are fire hazards (resposible for a small fire at my parents when I was younger).

By Colette on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 07:40 am:

I am glad everyone is ok. It must have been very scary to come home to that.

By Beth on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 08:31 am:

Unshoolmom your are right about the vinyl hose. The fireman said the same thing. But they said they thought it was the build up of stuff behind and underneath the drier. Because we had just cleaned the lint trap a few minutes before the fire happened. I never even thought about cleaning that. I know my mom's washer and dryer are wedged in one of those closet type spaces and I am sure those things have not been pulled out on in years. I am going to tell her to do it now!Bobbie you were very lucky. We said the same thing thank god we were home and awake. We actually don't have an exitinguisher and I think we will get one. Dh thinks he maybe could have put it out had he had one. But it is a gas dryer and he didn't know if it would explode. That is why he did not waste time trying. Just from going downstairs and looking his throat was irritated from the smoke. Luckily I had just changed the batteries in my smoke detector down there also. We have insurance but are deductible is like 500 dollars so we are just going to buy a new dryer. It seems to always happen that way. We got broken into a couple of years ago and they stole just enough to make it again not worth turning it in and eat the loss. Thanks for the well wishes and I hope my experience helps someone else.

By Melanie on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 12:01 pm:

Thank goodness it turned out minor and above all, that everyone is okay!! What a frightening reminder!! I will be checking over my dryer today. (((HUG)))

By Happynerdmom on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 12:14 pm:

How scary!! I'm glad everyone is okay.

By Sunny on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 01:29 pm:

I'm glad everyone is safe! I can imagine how scary it was. (((hugs)))

By Cat on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 02:54 pm:

How scary. Glad it wasn't more serious.

By Trina~moderator on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 03:13 pm:

OMG! {{{Beth and family}}} How scary! I'm so glad everyone is OK. Could have been much worse.

By Amy~moderator on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 11:41 pm:

(((Beth))) I know how scary that must have been for you and your family. Our Christmas tree caught fire last year and it went up so fast that we lost everything, and my husband was in a coma for 2 weeks from smoke inhalation. I am going to be cleaning my vent hose and behind/under the dryer tomorrow. Another warning: please, please, please - spray fire retardant on your Christmas trees this year if you plan to use Christmas lights. Also make sure to keep your tree constantly watered. We will use an artificial tree this year with no lights whatsoever. Small price to pay for my peace of mind.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Monday, October 25, 2004 - 12:07 am:

Beth, Our copay is only 250. They insurance guy did everything based on a table of standard charges and then I looked for everything under that. Meaning he said they generally charge X amount for parts and labor for repairs. And a standard drier runs X amount. And he paid me to replace the extinguisher and the batteries in my smoke detector and he paid me for clean up. So in actuality I only ended up having to come up with 40 dollars extra, because I called everyone in the book as far as electricians and went with the best price that could do it the quickest. And the drier was on sale. And I had the cleaning supplies etc. If my clothes had been ruined they would have given me fair dollar for them. So basically it might not hurt to look into it. Although, my car was broken into last thursday night. Yes when it rains it pours around here. My copay for that is 500 I can fix it and replace my radio for less than that so I didn't even file. I probably could have put a claim on my home owners but with just having to file on the drier I didn't want to bother with that. So that said I see your point. And I will be asking santa for a new car stereo. My BIL said if I am a good girl (lol) I just might find one in my stocking. His brother owns a tow company and people will give their car stereo as payment for a tow so he can probably get me one for free.

My suggestion, The time change is coming up this weekend. I think everyone on here needs to check their batteries and replace old smoke alarms. And a fire extinguisher would make for a great Christmas present, heck why not buy two or three...

By Rayanne on Monday, October 25, 2004 - 11:53 am:

I'm glad that evryone is ok.

By Boxzgrl on Monday, October 25, 2004 - 12:14 pm:

I'm glad you are all okay.

Amy, your story is the reason why were going to skip out on a Christmas tree this year. DH and I have never bought one as a "family" but don't really want to.

By Emily7 on Monday, October 25, 2004 - 12:31 pm:

Melissa, we put a tree up but don't turn on the lights.


Beth I am glad everything is okay

By Amy~moderator on Monday, October 25, 2004 - 12:58 pm:

Bobbie, we have 6 fire extinguishers around our house!

Melissa - I would definitely not to tell you to skip out on a tree. We love having a Christmas tree! I would just pass on the lights.