E-cigarette explodes like a firework in man's pants
A Kentucky man suffered third-degree burns on his legs and had to be hospitalized after his e-cigarette battery exploded in his pocket.
Security cameras caught the moment the man's pants burst into flames, which happened while he was standing at the counter of a gas station's convenience store.
In the video, the man, who is identified in local reports as Josh Hamilton, walks up to the counter and reaches into his pocket. Moments later, a stream of sparks shoot from his pants and he is instantly engulfed in flames. A startled delivery man looks on as Hamilton burst through the door and runs outside, before a quick thinking cashier follows him out with a fire extinguisher.
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Hamilton described the incident on Facebook.
"Third degree burns all up and down my leg. Just had an Ecig battery blow up and catch fire inside my pocket! Ouch ow ow ow," wrote Hamilton.
He also posted a rather grisly photo of the damage the explosion had done to his right leg.
Exploding e-cigarettes are not a new phenomenon.
There have been hundreds of reports of people whose batteries malfunctioned and burst into flames, often times while they are in the midst of smoking. One Florida man had to be placed in a medically induced coma because the burns on his face were so severe.
Late last year, a new federal rule in the U.S. was passed that forbids passengers from packing electronic cigarettes or other battery-operated electronic smoking devices in their checked bags. The regulations were seen as a move to protect against in-flight fires.
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Megan Specia was Mashable's Assistant Real-Time News Editor and joined the team in September 2014. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism & Mass Communications from the University of New Hampshire after growing up in the Jersey 'burbs. She made her way to New York via a four year stopover in Dublin. Megan previously worked as a journalist and editor at Storyful in both Dublin and New York. Before all of that, though, her claim to fame was as head cake arranger and purveyor of all things sweet at Queen of Tarts cafe in Dublin, where she developed a serious addiction to macarons.
