Firefighters Respond To Dryer Fire In Downtown Basement

A full structure fire response was dispatched to an apartment building on E. Gilman Street. A resident met Ladder Co. 1 outside to report smoke in the basement. The crew proceeded downstairs where a smoke detector sounded and light gray smoke banked down from the ceiling. They searched the basement for the source of the smoke and ultimately found a laundry dryer with its contents on fire. The fire was contained inside the dryer, and firefighters doused it with water. Firefighters turned off the natural gas feed to the appliance and brought the dryer outside. It was noted the dryer was not overloaded with laundry, but it did have a lot of lint and debris trapped inside the exhaust vents.

During the incident, firefighters attempted to activate the building’s alarm system to prompt an evacuation, but the system did not activate. Crews followed up with building management to establish a fire watch until the alarm system is operational again.