August 10, 2012

12:34 PM

Fire crews were dispatched to residential alarm at 1438 NW Irving today at 11:05 am. Station 3 (Northwest Pearl District) arrived minutes later to smoke coming from a third floor unit. Station 1 (Downtown) arrived moments later to assist with evacuation and ventilation. The fire was contained to the laundry room since the unit was equipped with an automatic sprinkler. Truck 3 quickly suppressed the remaining fire with a water extinguisher and rescued the homeowner's dog (Chocolate Labrador). No one was injured in this incident and the damage amount is still being assessed.

According to research by the Federal Emergency Management Agency there are 15,600 dryer fires in the U.S. each year that require fire department response. Of these, most are caused by lint and the dryer's ventilation system. These fires cause an average of nearly $9,000 damage each, and 3% of those fires caused injury. The single most effective thing that you can do to prevent dryer fires is to clean your lint trap regularly -- at least once per week.