Today I’m grateful that my house didn’t burn down in the 6 minutes after I left home.

11.15.2023

---

I woke up super early this morning. I got up to let Barkley out and then walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water. In doing so I saw last night’s dishes in the sink. I loaded them in the dishwasher and scrubbed my crockpot. I unintentionally splashed some water on the kitchen floor, which I then cleaned up with a towel. I threw the towel in my laundry hamper, which I realized was quite full. I threw in a load of laundry, which then sparked another chore, and another, and another. The next thing I knew, it was almost 2 hours later and I’d cleaned my kitchen, sorted through a pile of mail, done two loads of laundry, tidied up my home office, swept the back patio, cleaned out the fridge, and a variety of other things. I was on a productive roll and since I’d woken up early, I just went with it.

It was almost 7:15 when I really stopped to realize what time it was. At this point my productive chore mode turned into panicked get-ready mode. I took a shower, got dressed, packed my lunch, and rushed out the door 40 minutes later.

As I hurried out the door I glanced at my clothes dryer in my garage. I noticed that my dryer cycle had 6 minutes left. I congratulated myself in my mind for getting two complete loads of laundry done before work, and I backed my car out of the garage.

I was about a block away when the congratulatory conversation in my head turned to a worried one. You’re not supposed to run your dryer when you’re not at home. I know this. I know all about the risks and how a blockage in a dryer vent can cause a fire. I totally know this.

Now before you come at me for not taking fire safety seriously, you should know a few things about me. A house fire is one of my biggest fears. It has been since I was in 1st grade and the firefighters visited my school and taught us all about fire safety. I was the kid who demanded that my family practice a fire drill, complete with climbing out the windows and meeting in our family meeting spot. There was a summer in my childhood where I slept with my tennis shoes on more often than not, convinced that I’d be awakened in the middle of the night by either the smoke detector or the tornado siren, and that the minutes I would save by not having to fumble putting on my shoes in the dark could be life-saving minutes. Yeah, I was that kid. A worrier through and through.

I don’t carry quite that level of stress and worry anymore, but I’m still super responsible about all things fire-related. I have an alarm set on my phone to remind me to check my smoke detectors once a month. I never, ever light a candle after 7 p.m. just in case I accidentally fall asleep. And, I never, ever, ever leave the house with my dryer running.

Until today.

My mind went to worst-case scenario pretty darn fast. I debated turning around and going back home, but I was already running much later than I should have been. I was beating myself up for not just stopping the dryer on my way out, but then tried to console myself with the thought that it was only 6 minutes and that everything would probably be fine. I wondered which of my neighbors might be home and would spot my burning house first. Then I talked myself out of it and realized that I’d already been driving for 10 minutes and that by this point my house had either caught on fire or it hadn’t. I was slightly comforted by this thought, but if I’m going to be honest, I was watching for fire engines racing in the opposite direction for my entire 20 minute commute. It’s amazing the wild rides our minds can take us on and mine had certainly spiraled into self-deprecating, disastrous mode.

As the day went on and I hadn’t received a call from a neighbor or the police or one of my emergency contacts, I relaxed and left my dryer fire worry behind. Mostly.

As I drove home tonight I was much calmer than I had been on my morning commute, but there was a small part of my worried brain that wouldn’t completely relax until I saw my house standing, unharmed. As I turned on to my street and spotted the peak of my roof from afar, I have to admit I breathed a small sigh of relief.

So tonight, I’m thankful that my house didn’t burn down. I know the odds that a fire would start in those 6 minutes the one time I left my dryer running when I left the house, were probably stacked in my favor. But, as a non-risk-taker and super safety conscious person with a tendency to worry, I’m extra grateful that the only thing I found in my dryer when I got home was a load of clean, dry, fluffy towels.