Fire Safety Stick prevents house fire by quickly extinguishing tumble dryer fire with little mess to clear afterwards!

Philip Kirkup, was recently visiting The Motorhome and Caravan show at the NEC with his friend and former Metropolitan Police colleague, Mark. Both of which are now camper van owners.  Mark, knowing the advantages the Fire Safety Stick has over a typical dry powder extinguisher in a motorhome, camper or caravan, had already bought the Fire Safety Stick when visiting a previous show. This time, when they passed the Fire Safety Stick stand being run by approved distributors Towler and Staines, Philip decided that yes, he really should get one too, and he was soon very grateful he did!

Less than a week later, the Fire Safety Stick was still in his living room, actually still within its packaging box, as he hadn’t got around to installing it into his camper van when disaster struck!

The remains of the Fire Safety Stick after extinguishing the tumble dryer fire

Passing by the kitchen door, he noticed a distinct smell of burning and could already see some smoke emerging from around the back of his tumble drier. Fortunately, it was still at the very early stages, and being a policeman himself, decided it was safe enough to go and investigate. He opened the door of the tumble dryer and grabbed the clothing out that remained within the drum. Towards the back of the drum, he could easily see the orange glow and flickering of flames to the back. So luckily by removing those remaining clothes, he prevented them shortly further fuelling the fire.

He quickly remembered the Fire Safety Stick, and immediately rushed to living room to grab it. And took it out of the box, ready to strike, and direct it to the fire.

Whilst recounting exactly what happened to Andrew of the Fire Safety Stick team, he added at first strike it didn’t initially activate, but on the third with just a tiny more pressure between the striking cap and the black resin on the stick, it soon started to discharge the fire-fighting vapours. Andrew explained, that yes, just like striking a match, it may not catch first time, but on the second or even third flick it will start just fine.

Philip then just pointed the stick towards the back of the tumble dryer, into the gaps around the back of the machine and into the drum. At that point, he decided that it may be safer to retreat, particularly with the build-up of potentially noxious gas generated from the burning materials inside. Andrew added “I should point out that the vapour discharge from the Fire Safety Stick may appear very smoky, but it is absolutely harmless to those around. However, the smoke from the burning materials is not.” In fact, most fire related injuries are not from the flames but from smoke inhalation.

Philip did remember being advised back at the exhibition show at the NEC, that if you feel it too dangerous to directly deal with the fire, you can leave the actively discharging stick within a confined space, to continue discharging its vapours which would carry on engulfing the flames and then, by reacting with the oxygen around those flames and potentially extinguish the fire. Therefore, he just threw the stick into the tumble dryer drum and closed the door. He then also escaped the kitchen, again closing the door behind him. And yes, it did exactly what it needed too!

He commented that he was truly amazed that not only had the fire been extinguished, despite not having direct access to it, and thereby saving his house, but that the mess so minimal. In fact, having vented then kitchen allowing remaining Fire Safety Stick vapour to dissipate outside and the smell of the burnt drier to clear, there was no mess at all! There were just tiny remains of some black soot, created during the striking of the stick and this was quickly dusted away. Oh, and a very burnt-out tumble dryer too! It wasn’t just Philip that commented on the lack of damage, as the next day he was due to be away, which he was still able to do so. His parents called around to look after the house for him and they too, having seen the badly damaged burnt dryer, were shocked at the lack of damage in the kitchen.

As a policeman based in North Yorkshire, he was amazed that not more people carried the Fire Safety Stick, firstly at home of course, where it truly really could save someone’s life but also with his job, he could see the real benefits to carrying the stick in vehicles, including his own police one. Actually, Andrew from Fire Safety Stick then explained that his colleagues across in the South and West Yorkshire police forces were already starting to have them installed, with more forces currently reviewing the stick too.

Tumble Dryer fire safety – although at the time of writing, it hasn’t been confirmed, it is highly likely that the fire with Philips tumble dryer was caused by a build-up of excess lint within the vent and, with the added intense heat generated by the dryer, it then caught fire. This is one of the most common causes of domestic appliance fires. Fortunately, Philip was able to detect the fire quite early and could safely deal with it. In many case, especially when dryers are running either at night when the household are asleep, it can have truly devastating consequences. Regularly check the vents, and make sure all filters are cleared of any lint build up and avoid running the machines whilst unattended.

The typical (and likely here) cause of the tumble dryer fires is a excess build up of the lint, or fluff, in the dryers filters and vents. With the intense build-up of heat can then cause a fire.

The actual scene in Philips kitchen whilst the Fire Safety Stick was discharging. The vapour you see here is totally harmless to anyone nearby (including pets too) and once subsequently ventilated after the fire, there is little or no evidence of the fire, other than a very burnt out tumble drier of course! One should always be mindful of the potential toxins in the smoke created from the actual fire itself.