Fire personnel looking over the equipment after the small fire(Submitted by a community member).
A dryer at Colonial Laundromat in the city of Cortland caught on fire Wednesday morning.
City firefighters responded at 8:56 a.m. and went until 10:05 a.m. to put out the fire, ventilate the structure and isolate the gas from the machine -- deputy fire chief Michael Ten Kate said Wednesday afternoon.
Ten Kate mentioned a patron at the laundromat attempted to put out the fire at first, however, his crew was able to “completely put it out.”
No injuries were reported from the fire, Ten Kate said. Clothes in the dryer were destroyed from the fire -- and the machine suffered significant damage -- but there was “nothing beyond it” in terms of further damage, he added.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
What you should check at home
Despite no clear indication of how the fire started, Ten Kate harped the dangers of lint fires, including in a residential setting.
Ten Kate said there are two important actions that people need to do in their homes to avoid lint fires: Clean lint traps after every use of the dryer; and use proper ventilation.
Metal venting is the best option for ventilation, Ten Kate added, and metal flex tube is an OK choice as well.
Plastic tubing, however, is a “pretty big hazard,” he said.
“You can buy it at a (home improvement store) and set it up, but it doesn’t meet the fire to use them,” Ten Kate said.
