A blaze broke out at a London dry cleaners in the dead of night, causing damage to part of the ground floor of an end-of-terrace building. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
Dryer Drama Sparks Fire
The fire is believed to have started due to self-heating laundry. The London Fire Brigade revealed that oily textiles are often the culprit.
“These types of fires often involve textiles that become contaminated with oil, most commonly linseed, massage and cooking oil on tea towels, tablecloths and chef whites,” a brigade spokesperson said.
How Laundry Can Turn Lethal
They explained the danger comes when oily items are cleaned, tumble dried, then folded and stacked while still hot. Trapped heat can smoulder and ignite the fabrics.
“Sometimes when materials are cleaned, put in tumble dryers and then folded and stacked, the heat from the tumble drying cannot escape. This can result in a high enough temperature allowing it to build up to a point where it smoulders and eventually ignites,” they warned.
Firefighters’ Top Laundry Safety Tip
The brigade urges anyone using tumble dryers to always run the cooling cycle and let clothes cool before stacking.
“If you are washing and then drying on a hot cycle, always use the cooling cycle on the tumble dryer so it cools down and allow the heat to dissipate properly, before stacking laundered items together.”
Firefighters Race to Scene
The alarm was raised at 11.45pm. Fire crews from Bethnal Green, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, and Shadwell rushed in and had the fire under control by 12.45am.
