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For Emma and her one year old son Lenny, 26 January 2009 had begun like any other day.

They'd visited a play centre and Emma was getting on with the household chores, hanging up one load of washing in the garden while another was in the tumble dryer.

Emma told Rhodri, "I went to go back inside and there was smoke all in the kitchen and small flames coming out of the bottom of the tumble dryer.

"I dialled 999 and just watched the whole house go black basically. Even though the windows were closed, there was smoke coming through the windows.

"We just had to wait for the fire engines to come. It was heart-breaking, it was just awful."

In the few minutes it took for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service to arrive and put the fire out, Emma's home was devastated by smoke damage.

Every room needs to be redecorated, all Emma and Lenny's possessions were ruined, and they are unlikely to be able to move back into the property for several months.

Fortunately for Emma, she and Lenny were in the garden when the fire started, but the family's pet budgie Rocky died, and Emma says she regrets not having smoke detectors which would have alerted her to the fire earlier, or house insurance to cover the cost of the damage.

But Emma isn't the only person whose home has been ravaged by a tumble dryer fire in North Wales this year.

Community Safety Team Manager for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, Paul Scott, says they have been trying to raise awareness of the risks after a recent spate of fires in the region.

He told Rhodri, "We've had 19 in 2008 and six in January 2009. Six in a month is unprecedented. It is all preventable.

"With any electrical appliance there is a risk, but if it's maintained and used properly fires can be prevented."

Since January 2008, X-Ray is aware of at least 40 fires linked to tumble dryers across Wales. It's a huge concern to fire crews, right across the country.

In Briton Ferry, Mid and West Wales Fire Service have stepped up training to deal with the sort of fires caused by tumble dryers.

In a confined space like a kitchen, pressure and gases build in a fire and it's shocking how powerful they can be.

During a controlled training exercise, filmed for X-Ray, Watch Manager Ian Howells described the danger of backdraft fires fire to trainees.

"You can imagine opening the door and going into the house. We wouldn't want to be faced with that, it could cause injuries and potentially fatalities, so it's important you know the signs and symptoms of these backdrafts, so we know how to deal with them."

The danger of tumble dryer fires was demonstrated in 2007 when Mark Lundrigan died after an overloaded extension lead connected to a second hand tumble dryer caused a fire in his home in Cardiff.

The 47-year-old was trapped in his bedroom above the utility room where the fire had broken out.

So what can we do to make sure we're reducing the risk of a tumble dryer fire in our home? Well, there are a few simple steps we can all take.

• Check out the manufacturers' advice, make sure you read the instructions, and stick to them.
• Watch for hot sockets, fuses that blow for no reason, flickering lights and scorch-marks on sockets or plugs.
• Don't overload your extension leads.
• You should never overload the tumble dryer. If necessary, do two smaller loads rather than the one big one.
• Never leave the tumble dryer on when you got to bed or leave the house and don't set the programme to run for too long.
• Make sure you clean the filter regularly, and get the appliance serviced by a qualified electrician, especially make sure you get second hand electrical equipment inspected before you use it.
• Make sure the vent hose is straight and doesn't have any kinks in it. If it does, fluff could collect which could then ignite.
• Make sure that you do have adequate contents insurance so that if the worst does happen, you don't lose everything.
• Make sure you've got enough smoke detectors and a proper fire escape plan if the worst does happen. Your local fire prevention officer will be more than happy to come to your house and advise you and they can even fit smoke detectors for nothing! You can contact them on 0800 169 1234.