After hanging up I sprayed my fire extinguisher into the dryer but I couldn't tell where the fire was. When I stopped and listened, I could hear the fire. A roaring, crackling fire. Then I looked on the right side of the dryer and saw an orange glow through the crack in the dryer side. That is when I threw my basket of clothes outside (to get it out of the way) and I ran to get the kids. Z was great and put his shoes on right away. I picked up Harper, grabbed my purse and a pair of pants for Z (who was in his underwear). We went out front and sat on the front lawn to wait for the fire truck. I pulled snacks out of my purse and had them start eating and I ran to open the gate to the backyard and move that laundry basket of clothes farther into the backyard to get them further out of the way. At that point I also was thinking through the fact that was roughly one half of John and my regular wardrobe.
The fire truck pulled up... this was probably 10 minutes after I first smelled fire, so they probably only took about 7 minutes max. I showed them where to go and then went to sit with the kids. They had us move across the street and we waited. They all were very nonchalant, and I told Z that that was a good sign. After another 10 or 15 minutes they pulled our dryer out onto the front lawn:
My neighbor came over and gave me a hug. At that point I finally lost it a little and started to cry. I just didn't want to fall apart in front of the kids. My neighbor was SOO hugely helpful just by being there. It made me think of that proverb that a neighbor near by is better than a brother far away. Anyway, there was a bit of a mess, but no damage to the house. Praise God that we were all safe and we didn't lose anything significant. There are so many "what if's" that go through your mind after something like this... what if I wasn't home, what if it was the middle of the night, what if the fire department wasn't as close to us as they are...
I'm sure you're wondering what caused it...
LINT.
Unbelievable. I didn't clean the lint trap and the exhaust to outside was backed up with lint so not enough air was getting to it. The fireman said to clean out that vent every two months. And clean the lint filter EVERY time. Now I know. And now you know. I'll never make that mistake again. I'll also never run the dryer when I'm away, or even at night.
We spent the rest of the day cleaning up the mess. John had to scrub down the walls and ceiling of the laundry room because of the soot. And there was water and smokey yuck all on our kitchen floor. There is still a faint smell of smoke in the laundry room and at that side of the kitchen, but it didn't go into the bedrooms or living room. I'm just so, so thankful for our safety.
A friend said that I could officially call that a bad day. I told him that I actually felt more like I had won the lottery. :)
