ON FIRE | by MICHAEL N. CIAMPO
Every day in homes across the country, appliances are put to work and have us responding. Toasters are burning bread, washing machines are overloaded, or a dishwasher’s heating element is melting a plastic utensil. The clothes dryer is another appliance that will surely cause problems for firefighters. Often, the lint screen in the machine isn’t properly cleaned out and there’s a buildup in the machine, exhaust port, and flexible/solid exhaust tubing. These situations contribute to a fire’s spread and extension or cause the machine to ignite. Somebody forgot to mention that we’ll often be the “Maytag repairperson” when we get called to these situations.
Incident 1
When we arrived at a private dwelling, the residents were out front informing us that there was a smoke condition in the basement’s laundry room, making us wonder what we would encounter. The smell was a little unusual and not that of a working fire or burning rubber from a machine’s belt. As we used the exterior Bilco doors down into the basement, most of us had to tilt our heads so our helmets wouldn’t bang into the ceiling joists overhead. We made our way into the room and the odor became more prevalent; we could see light smoke puffing from around the base of the dryer and black pipe running along the wall behind the unit, informing us it was run by gas. Quickly, we shut down the gas with the quarter turn valve that was a few feet from the machine. We also unplugged the unit from the wall outlet to remove power.
It’s important to understand that the machine’s ignitor is an electronic ignition module/element that heats up and then ignites the gas to create heat for the machine to function. Removing the electrical power to the unit decreases the chances of any further electrical issue with the machine.
As we wiggled the machine out of its wedged position, we used caution not to pull too rapidly and cause damage to the flex line gas supply that ran off the black pipe to the machine. Once the machine was away from the wall, we could see the plastic flex hose was melted and light smoke was drifting out from beneath the machine. We disconnected the hose and tilted the machine. We encountered a smoldering fire from an excessive buildup of lint, newspapers, and other materials.
As we hit the fire with the pressurized water can, a firefighter jumped backward as a few mice suddenly departed from their den. We moved the machine outside so it could be inspected and to ensure there weren’t any lingering remnants of fire or mice inside it. In addition, we checked the flexible exhaust hose for extension inside and outside the home, where it terminated. Luckily, there was no extension.
Incident 2
Arriving at a multiple dwelling with grayish smoke issuing from the exterior basement door, we proceeded inside to the laundry room. The taste in our mouths let us know some kind of rubber or plastic was burning. With a heavier smoke condition inside the room and “raindrops” of carbon lingering in the air, we knew it wasn’t just a belt on the machine.
Donning our face pieces, we used the thermal imaging camera, which directed us to a stackable dryer unit that was showing redder than the others in the room. As we opened the dryer’s door, flames shot out, and we used the pressurized water to subdue them. Meanwhile, the engine was stretching a hoseline to our location, while another firefighter was trying to locate the gas shutoff valves and electrical service panel. We then closed the machine’s door in an attempt to smother the fire.
When the engine company arrived, we opened the machine’s door so they could fully extinguish the burning materials inside and the dryer’s plastic drum. The smoke took some time to lift, and it was a nuisance to pull the units away from the wall because there were eight of them connected together. Once we disconnected them, we found smoldering lint inside the rear of the machine and melted exhaust tubing that was almost completely clogged. The hoseline was directed inside the metal tubing to flush it out. A member was positioned outside at its termination point and relayed to the inside teams that there was no more burnt lint coming out after a thorough washdown.
Incident 3
Arriving at a multiple dwelling that has storefronts on the lower floor is always an issue, especially when a fire breaks out in one of the stores at night when occupants are sleeping on the floors above. Luckily, one occupant arrived home from work at about midnight and noticed smoke pushing from the old dumbwaiter door inside his second-floor apartment.
When we arrived, we forced entry into the dumbwaiter shaft. When we opened it, we encountered a metal exhaust duct running up the shaftway to the roof. The duct had flames emitting from its seams. The roof firefighter was directed to give a report from the termination point of the duct on the roof and then to drop down to the top floor to ensure the fire hadn’t entered the cockloft. (When trying to determine if fire has entered that area, it’s always easier to poke a few holes in the top-floor ceiling than to perform a time-consuming roof cut.)
Realizing the situation, we quickly proceeded downstairs to the storefront laundromat. We could see a haze of smoke through the roll-down gates, so we cut the padlocks to gain entry. Once inside, we got lucky because there was a door that led to a three-foot aisle behind the row of dryers. The gas and electric were shut down, and a hoseline extinguished the huge lint fire at the base of the piping. Extensive overhaul operations had to be conducted because of the extension in the dumbwaiter shaft, all from one culprit, lint.
MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 37-year veteran of the fire service and a lieutenant in the Fire Department of New York. Previously, he served with the District of Columbia Fire Department. He has a bachelor’s degree in fire science from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He is the lead instructor for the FDIC International Truck Essentials H.O.T. program. He wrote the Ladders and Ventilation chapters for Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II (Fire Engineering, 2009) and the Bread and Butter Portable Ladders DVD and is featured in “Training Minutes” truck company videos.
