Dryer vents, extension cords and space heaters: the three fire starters in most homes

Firefighters see the same three things again and again, and none of them is a mysterious wiring failure behind drywall. They are a dryer that could not exhaust, a cord that was never meant to carry the load it was given, and a heater with something too close to it. Each is an afternoon to fix and none needs a permit.

The dryer vent

Dryer lint is one of the most flammable things in the house, and every load sends some of it down the vent. If the vent is long, kinked, crushed behind the dryer or made of the white vinyl hose that was sold for decades, the lint stops moving and packs in. Then the dryer runs hot because it cannot breathe, and a spark or the heating element does the rest.

• Clean the lint screen every load and wash it with soap every few months; fabric softener leaves a film that blocks airflow.
• Once a year, pull the dryer out, disconnect the duct and clean the whole run to the outside. A brush kit on a drill does it. If the run is long or goes through the attic, a duct cleaning Pro does it in an hour.
• Replace foil or vinyl flex hose with rigid or semi-rigid metal duct. Flex hose is where lint collects, and it burns.
• Check the outside flap opens when the dryer runs and closes when it stops. A stuck flap means a blocked vent or a bird's nest.

A dryer that takes two cycles to dry a load is the vent talking to you.

Extension cords

An extension cord is a temporary connection. A cord under a rug, stapled along a baseboard, or feeding a space heater through the winter is a permanent one, and it was not built for that. The thin cords sold in bulk are rated for a lamp; a heater, a window air conditioner or a refrigerator pulls ten times the current, and the cord heats up along its entire length, under the rug, where nobody sees it.

• Anything that heats, cools or has a motor plugs directly into the wall.
• If a room does not have enough outlets, that is an electrician's job, and adding a circuit is one of the least expensive things an electrician does.
• Power strips are for electronics. Never plug a strip into a strip.
• A warm cord, a warm plug, a discolored outlet, or a breaker that trips more than once are all the same message: stop and call a Pro.

Space heaters

Portable heaters cause a large share of winter home fire deaths, almost always because something burnable was within three feet or the heater was left running unattended. A heater with a tip-over switch, an overheat cutoff and a current safety listing is a reasonable thing to own. A heater on an extension cord, under a desk with paper beside it, in a bedroom overnight, is not.

• Three feet of clear space in every direction, including above.
• On the floor, on a hard surface, never on carpet or a table.
• Off when you leave the room and off when you sleep.
• Directly into the wall outlet, on a circuit that is not already running a heater.

If a room is cold enough that you need a heater every day, the fix is the heating system or the insulation, and either is a call worth making before the winter rather than after.

The alarms

None of this matters as much as working smoke alarms on every level and in every bedroom. Test them monthly. Replace them at ten years. A closed bedroom door slows a fire by minutes, and minutes are the whole game.