The guy in my building who keeps drying his clothes on the radiator

There's this guy on my floor in Wrigleyville who every single winter hangs his wet jeans and hoodies directly on the steam radiator... I can smell the burnt dust from three doors down. I told him last Tuesday that it's a fire hazard but he just shrugged and said "it's faster than the dryer." Has anyone else's neighbor done this in their building and actually caused a problem?

2 comments

2 Comments

emery9651mo ago

What finally worked for me was flagging it to the fire department during their routine building inspection, which @simonl86 mentioned is a smart move since it puts real pressure on management. Burnt dust smell alone is a safety red flag, and once the fire marshal got involved the landlord had to shut it down quick. Did you check if your building has any posted fire safety rules about heat sources?

simonl861mo ago

Dude that's a straight up fire waiting to happen. I had a neighbor in my old building do the exact same thing. He'd hang wet towels on the pipes and one day the dust buildup actually caught a tiny flame. Super lucky someone was home with a fire extinguisher. Management had to put up signs and threaten eviction before he stopped. If the landlord won't do anything, maybe mention it to the building super in writing. That way you've got a paper trail if anything goes wrong.