Two die in fire caused by clothes dryer

NFPA Journal, Sep/Oct 2006 by Tremblay, Kenneth

TENNESSEE-A 55-year-old handicapped woman and a 50-year-old woman were fatally injured in a fire that started when the clothes dryer in their rented single-family home malfunctioned. The wood-frame house, which had an asphalt roof, was not sprinklered.

One of the occupants awoke at 8:35 a.m. to the smell of smoke and telephoned the fire department. After the fire was extinguished, investigators determined that the dryer's motor malfunctioned, causing clothing and carpeting to overheat and ignite. The fire then spread up a wall, across the ceiling, and up an open stairwell to the attic, where it traveled the length of the house above the living areas.

The handicapped woman died at the scene. The other woman suffered burns and smoke inhalation when she tried to rescue her roommate and died at the hospital. The house, valued at $55,000, and its contents, valued at $10,000, were destroyed.