NAPERVILLE, IL — A complete and unbroken archive of owner’s manuals spanning thirty-nine years, two houses, and at least four appliances the family no longer owns failed Tuesday to produce the document most immediately required, as the Gunderson family dishwasher entered what fire officials later described as “a meaningful thermal event.”

Dale Gunderson, 61, is believed to maintain the largest privately held collection of product documentation in DuPage County, with manuals organized by decade in a set of labeled binders stored in the basement utility room. The archive includes complete documentation for a 1994 Kenmore microwave, a leaf blower sold at a garage sale in 2011, and a ceiling fan for a model discontinued before the current Gunderson home was built. The 2019 Bosch dishwasher manual was not located.

“I have the warranty card,” Gunderson confirmed from the driveway, where his wife, Cheryl, 58, was on the phone with 911. “I just don’t have the manual itself. Which, in fairness, I may have filed under ‘B’ for Bosch or ‘D’ for dishwasher. Could also be ‘K’ for kitchen.”

“He has the manual for a clock radio we got as a wedding gift. We do not own a clock radio.” — Cheryl Gunderson, 58

Their son, Tyler, 29, who was visiting for the weekend, confirmed the collection also includes three VCR manuals and a laminated quick-start guide for a PalmPilot. “At some point it stopped being about the appliances,” Tyler said. “I think he just really likes binders.”

The dishwasher was ultimately extinguished using a method found in no manual: baking soda and a garden hose, recommended by a neighbor who was watching from the sidewalk.

At press time, Dale had located the Bosch manual in a binder labeled “Miscellaneous – Do Not Recycle,” confirmed the warranty had expired in 2021, and was already researching replacement models and printing their documentation in advance.