Posted by Cur Mudgeon, a resident of the Greenmeadow neighborhood, on Nov 21, 2012 at 12:56 pm

The moral of the story is don't leave your appliances on when you are away. Dryers overheat; washers overflow or become unbalanced; dishwashers melt and ignite fallen plastic utensils. Sorry for the resident, smoke damage is messy.

Posted by Ducatigirl, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Nov 21, 2012 at 1:43 pm

Cur Mudgeon is absolutely right. I think a lot of people don't realize that they should clean their dryer duct annually AT LEAST. It also helps your clothes dry faster, if fire prevention isn't enough of a reason.