OnGard...Article by Joe Gagnon

IS ONGARD THE ANSWER?

After all of these years of writing this column I have always admired the standards of this newspaper’s ethics in journalism. My writings have never been used as an advertising medium but rather a true forum of consumer education. I will ask you to excuse me on this one occasion because the information I’m about to give you is so important, it takes precedence over my ethics as well. There is no money exchanging hands between this new company and myself nor do I expect there will be. It is a product produced here in Michigan and they need all of the publicity they can get but most important the smart consumer who is concerned about a clothes dryer fire needs to know about this product. It is called OnGARD and is a simple fire extinguisher which attaches to the back wall with a piece of plastic tubing leading into the base of the clothes dryer.

I don’t mean to simplify the concept but it took Gerald Flood, the inventor a short time to create this wonderful safety device. In the past, I have talked to manufacturer’s engineers and others about an extinguisher that could be installed within a clothes dryer to prevent the happening of a dryer fire. I’m sure the feeling from a manufacture is that installing a fire suppression system within a dryer would mean admitting that the product is at fault. Not  so, I claim as the homeowner is at fault here. They build a fine product which does the job very sufficiently and we the consumer don’t pay enough attention to how a clothes dryer operates. There are over 16,000 dryer fires reported each year in this country and I’ll bet that twice that amount go unreported. Many people are injured and many die and yet the news media does a terrible job of educating the American public. While this lack of concern seems prevalent and the way it is, this new invention can begin to save lives and make more homeowners aware.

I have been approached many times to endorse someone’s new product and I don’t bite all that often. Take the product invented a few years back that would save energy costs by simply plugging your refrigerator into it. I stated that it might cause a compressor failure and it did, but millions were made before the product was removed from store shelves. Someone is always out to make a quick buck in this world which should raise the caution flag in shopper’s habits. This new invention is just now hitting the market place and as you can tell, I believe in it very strongly. It is not difficult for a typical homeowner to install themselves. You mount the extinguisher to the wall behind the dryer and then run the plastic tube through a louver on the back of the dryer. The tube lays on the inside floor of the dryer and when the heat of the flame hits the tube, it propels a proven fire suppressor powder throughout the base of the dryer which puts out the fire. Another important factor is that there is enough powder expelled that some of it will travel up the vent line to extinguish and prevent the fire from spreading outside of the dryer. It is not expensive to purchase especially compared to the damage cost with most dryer fires. The life of the product is in the area of 6 years and the fire extinguisher has a gauge on it to tell you when it needs to be recharged. I have asked to be notified on the sad occasion of a dryer fire when this product has proven itself. Currently this product can be purchased at www.ongard.biz or call 1-800-338-9010.

I recently spent some time appearing at the January edition of the Novi Home Improvement show and I want to thank the many people who stopped by and said hello. It’s a fact that so many of you commented on this column that I write and with great pride, I tell you that I am blessed to do so. Stay tuned.

Regards,
Joe Gagnon