Dryer Vent Home Fire Facts

Dryer Fire Statistics

• Those 15,600 fires represent and annual average from 2002 to 2004. Those fires caused an average of nearly $9,000 in damage each. Three percent of the fires caused injuries, and 0.1 percent resulted in a death.

Causes

• Dryers work by forcing hot air through the drum. That air carries lint with it, which is filtered by the lint trap. If that trap isn't regularly cleaned you get an accumulation of highly flammable material and restricted flow of very hot air. The air gets hotter as it's restricted, eventually igniting the lint.

Prevention

• FEMA notes that 70 percent of air vent fires were caused by a "failure to clean" the vent system. The single most effective thing you can do to prevent dryer vent fires in your home is to clean the lint trap regularly -- at least once per week.