A Charlottetown resident is urging people to regularly check their dryer vents for blockages from lint, snow and ice after a fire at her home was linked to a blocked vent.

Ellyn Young, who lives in the Sherwood neighbourhood, said the fire broke out last month. Noticing a burning smell one morning, she checked inside the house but found nothing unusual. Then she looked outside and saw thick smoke.

"And I turned my head towards the backyard, and there was like six-foot flames shooting out the side…