Gloria Greenlaw considers herself lucky.

Greenlaw’s home at 306 East Pine St., Rockmart, caught fire Monday afternoon, causing significant damage to the interior.

There were no injuries, she said.

“The fire department was here immediately,” Greenlaw said. “If they hadn’t come when they did - I have a gas water heater in the space with the dryer - it could have exploded.”

Firefighters determined quickly the fire was caused by lint in the back of the dryer area. Greenlaw was home when the fire broke out around 1:30 p.m.

“I had been smelling something hot, but I just ignored it. Just a few seconds later, I saw smoke,” she said.

Greenlaw said she went to investigate and saw the blaze behind the dryer.

The majority of the damage was to the laundry area and smoke and soot damage spread into the adjoining activity room.

Greenlaw pointed out that her stationary bike had melted in the blaze.

Family members told her the whole interior may have to be gutted because of smoke damage in the attic and in all the insulation, Greenlaw said.

For now, Greenlaw had a restoration company on site packing up belongings and cleaning up.

The homeowner said there were a couple fortunate things, aside from the Rockmart Fire Department’s quick response, which happened to save her home. She said she had kept the door to the activity room shut and firefighters told her that kept the fire from spreading to the kitchen.

She is also thankful she was doing laundry in the afternoon rather than overnight.

“People really need to be careful about their dryers,” she said. “I’ve thrown towels and washcloths in there and gone to bed.”