A clothes dryer ignited in a property and the owner attempted to extinguish the fire himself. The resulting fumes were the cause of smoke inhalation requiring medical attention.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) confirmed the origin of the fire was the clothes dryer. The dryer was destroyed by the fire and FENZ suspected it was caused by a short circuit within the dryer. No further information was available to back up this conclusion.

The owner of the property confirmed that they would carry out regular filter cleaning and they also mentioned that the drier was purchased second hand 18 months earlier. The dryer had no identification marks due to the extent of the fire.

WorkSafe Energy Safety closed the investigation on the basis that no further information was available.