Do you know what is in your dryer vent?  I am sure you all clean out the vent in your dryer.  Have you ever cleaned out the compartment with the lent tray out?  I found jewelry in mine.  That got me thinking.  If the filter does not catch it all and leaves that much in the base of the dryer.  Surly there is more lent in the vent that leads to the outside.  So I decided to investigate this on my own.  I sure do hope I can get it all back together before Bear gets home : )

Frightening facts from a 2008-2010 report by the US Fire Administration.

• An estimated 2,900 clothes dryer fires in residential buildings are reported to U.S. fire departments each year and cause an estimated 5 deaths, 100 injuries, and $35 million in property loss.
• Clothes dryer fire incidence in residential buildings was higher in the fall and winter months, peaking in January at 11 percent.
• Failure to clean (34 percent) was the leading factor contributing to the ignition of clothes dryer fires in residential buildings.
• Dust, fiber, and lint (28 percent) and clothing not on a person (27 percent) were, by far, the leading items first ignited in clothes dryer fires in residential buildings.
• Fifty-four percent of clothes dryer fires in residential buildings were confined to the object of origin.

Recently I saw a post on Facebook where a homeowner cleaned their dryer vent that was run to the roof.  Bear said this is a very bad design and a big fire hazard.  The amount of lent the homeowner pulled out was crazy.  If your home vent is through the roof you may be able to reroute it directly to the outside horizontally rather than vertically.