According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.... in 1998, clothes dryers caused more than 15,000 fires, some deadly. That's why we wanted to go to the experts to see what we can do to prevent something bad from happening in our laundry rooms.

In today's Fast Fix, an Eau Claire Fire Inspector shows us what we should be doing with our dryers.

Because any heating appliance can create a fire risk, fire inspector, Gary Puljas, gives this advice:

*check behind your dryer, clear out any clothes, vaccuum up lint
*clean and vaccuum out lint screen
*vaccum out the 4 inch pipe or tube...You can take a towel or your hand too
*take off the back cover of your dryer, vaccuum it out
*check the outside vent on your home, is there lint caught in it?
*if so, take off the screen, you can even vaccum it out
*may have to use a ladder... To get on the roof if your vent is up there, otherwise puljas says check near your foundation for the vent

Gary says you should always vent your dryers outside and you should follow the manufacterer's instructions on how many twists and turns your dryer vent can safely handle. He also made a good point... That you should never dry clothes that have oil or gas spills on them... The fumes and heat are a dangerous mix.