Proper Dryer Venting & Maintenance: The Key to
Reduced Fire Risk
Proper Dryer Venting & Maintenance: The Key to
Reduced Fire Risk ,
CREIA Inspector Journal Fall 2016
Dryer venting isn’t a very glamorous
topic, but if we look at residential clothes dryer
related fires as a percentage of the total number of
fires per year – it is a very significant safety
concern. Most inspector have some inspection “pet
peeves”; i.e. those things that they a pay
little special attention to - perhaps because of
some special knowledge or experience. One
of mine is clothes dryer venting. There are about
15,500 residential dryer related fires per year.
Dryer related fires rank as leading cause of
residential fires and are responsible for over
$200,000,000 per year in property losses.
Between 2006 and 2010, dryers were responsible for
around 400 injuries per year with an average
of 30 fatalities annually. Around 84% of all
clothes dryer related fires occur in 1 and 2 unit
single-family dwellings.
