A RETAINED firefighter acted quickly when a tumble dryer burst into flames, spewing out toxic smoke.

Ashley Jones, 46, had placed his biking gear in the Indesit appliance and switched it on. The dryer was located in a room underneath his office at his garage in Padiham where he works on Enduro motorbikes.

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Mr Jones, who lives in Hapton, said: “I had washed my bike stuff and put it in the dryer in the morning. I was just about to go out for dinner when the guy next door came in and asked ‘What’s that burning smell?’

“I opened the door and the room was full of toxic gas. There was black smoke coming from the dryer. I couldn’t breathe. If this had been in a house the fumes would have taken you over instantly, it was so thick.”

Mr Jones grabbed a fire extinguisher and dived down to avoid the fumes. He said: “I went in low with the CO2 extinguisher and blasted it and got out as quickly as I could. If I hadn’t have opened that door, it would have been a different story. The whole place would have gone up like a tinder.”

The dad-of-four, who has been a retained firefighter in Padiham for eight years, has urged people not to leave their dryers on if they leave their homes.

Mr Jones, who is on call 90 hours per week, said: “The dryer was on fire. As soon as I opened the door, flames were bellowing out.

“I had just cleaned the filter so it had nothing to do with that. I had it on high heat so maybe that is what caused it. At home I never leave the dryer on if I leave the house after what has happened with other incidents.

“Most electric appliances have a cut-off switch, but dryers don’t. It’s an internal thing. It’s not electrical. Something must get so hot.”

He added: “When I first joined there were shouts every day. There was a dryer fire in Padiham a few years ago when a few kids died. That was before I joined the fire service.”

He was referring to the deaths of Louise Waddington, aged 11, and her sisters Hayley, 10, and Gemma, seven, in a house blaze in Lancaster Drive, Padiham, which was linked to a faulty tumble dryer. An inquest ruled the girls died from smoke inhalation from the devastating fire in 2004 after their mum left the dryer on a short cycle in the family kitchen.

Local Government Association figures showed there were 2,190 tumble dryer blazes between 2012 and 2014 in England and Wales.

US giant Whirlpool, which now owns Indesit, said in a statement on its website: “We have identified a potential concern with two types of tumble dryers manufactured between April 2004 and September 2015. In some rare cases, excess fluff can come into contact with the heating element and present a risk of fire.

“We are activating an extensive consumer outreach and service action plan in order to provide our consumers with products that are updated to higher safety and quality standards. You may continue to use your tumble dryer whilst waiting for the modification, however, we require that you do not leave your dryer unattended during operation as an extra precaution.”