SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20130521-0B33B-2147455910. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Matched catalog product: Kenmore Kenmore 796. 91383410. Source model text: 796 80272900. Incident: Our Kenmore electric dryer caught on fire and filled the house up with smoke. If we were not at home when this happened it could have been a massive fire. The dryer was purchased new from Sears in Chandler, AZ. Model # is 796 80272900 and the Serial number is 911KWFN00771. We are the only owners of the dryer. It has never been worked on since there were no issues with it until now. We turned on the dryer and smoke began coming out of the front and the back sides. After turning it off, smoke continued and got worse. I quickly removed the dryer from the washroom through the garage and out on the drive way. The two plastic access panels on the bottom back were on fire and melting. I sprayed water inside the dryer to put out the fire. Looking through the access panels showed that the inside of the dryer where the motor, heating elements and other mechanical components are located was full and packed with lint. The hot air return was clear of lint. It is apparent that the design is defective or was not assembled correctly to allow such dangerous lint build up outside of the lint catcher and the hot air return and in and around the heating element, wiring and mechanical components. See pictures.