The most underrated danger in your home: Lint
The fire hazard your home insurance company should warn you about
When I got the company email announcement asking for donations, I sighed and thought, “Whose birthday, anniversary, engagement or award announcement is it this time?” (Those Corporate America donation requests will wipe out your paychecks.) But this particular one left me speechless. One of my managers had lost his home, and he and his family were staying at an undisclosed location. Their entire home had burned down, including all of their clothes, memorabilia and furniture.
How? My boss took a nap while doing laundry. He woke up to smoke and flames around him. His clothes dryer caught on fire. Now normally you’d think this was due to an electric shortage or even putting a flammable item inside. No. He was homeless because of a full lint trap.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission via the National Park Service, 15.5K fires are caused by clothes dryers annually in the United States. These tragedies result in 10 deaths, 310 injuries and more than $84 million in property damage.