Orange firefighters quickly extinguished a kitchen fire in a home on Derby Avenue Saturday afternoon that was traced to a clothes dryer lint filter. The fire was knocked down before it could do significant damage.
Members of the Orange Volunteer Fire Department were called to 341 Derby Ave. about 5:30 p.m., said Fire Chief Vaughan Dumas. Only the clothes dryer and its contents were damaged. Firefighters also removed smoke and debris from the house. Dumas said the fire demonstrated the need to clean the lint filter in dryers.
“Cleaning out the lint trap in a dryer can prevent a fire and also help your machine’s performance,” said Dumas. “In addition to cleaning out the lint trap after each use, the dryer’s vent to the outside should be cleaned annually.”
Dumas said the local family was lucky. Nationally, there are 16,000 clothes dryer fires a year, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Those fires result nationally in 13 deaths, 444 injuries and $238 million in property damage. About a third of those fires were caused by failure to clean the dryer vent.
“It takes a minute or so to do, but it can prevent so many problems,” summarized Dumas.
One resident was examined on scene by firefighters and then by paramedics from AMR but declined to be treated or transported. The fire remains under investigation by the Orange Fire Marshal’s office.