This Is What Happens When An E-Cig Explodes In Your Pocket

This Is What Happens When An E-Cig Explodes In Your Pocket

An Owensboro, Kentucky man was sent to the hospital for second-degree burns last weekend, when his e-cig battery exploded like a firework in his pocket. And he hasn’t been the only one with such luck.

Surveillance footage from a Shell petrol station’s security camera caught the incident on tape Saturday morning. The man was about to pay at the register, when a Roman candle-like blast burst from his pants and sent sparks flying. He ran out onto the footpath, wrestled off his pants and was then blasted by a petrol station attendant with a fire extinguisher.

It’s not the first time an e-cigarette battery has been reported to explode. Just a couple weeks ago, a Texas man also suffered serious burns with a spare e-cig battery went boom in his pants pocket. He, too, was at a convenience store, when the battery blew up and fused part of his jeans to his leg. Yet another man earlier this month in Texas suffered burns, his first degree, when a vape battery blew up in his pants.

We’ll have to see if e-cig batteries, like hoverboards, will soon be banned from train stations, planes, universities and anywhere else that isn’t keen on sudden explosions. The cause of the e-cig blasts is still unclear.

[CBS News and 14News]

Image via 14News YouTube


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.