By Jason Tidd September 17, 2020
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article235922762.html
An exploding vape pen started a vehicle fire in northwest Kansas on Thursday, officials said.
“Did you hear the fire siren this morning?” the Phillips County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post. “Here’s photos of the car that was involved. Any ideas what started the fire?
“It was caused by an exploding vape pen. The vape pen uses a rechargeable lithium battery and when a malfunction occurs, it can be catastrophic.”TOP
Photos of the vehicle show that the fire gutted the interior of the car. The sheriff’s office did not report whether anyone was hurt.
This is not the first time vaping materials were reported as the cause of a fire.
In 2018, a Derby man filed a lawsuit against a Wichita vaping shop. He said a spare battery for his e-cigarette exploded in the front pocket of his pants.
“It was like a flame thrower. It just ignited and was a big ball of fire,” his lawyer said.
E-Cigarettes, or electronic cigarettes, are battery-powered devices that simulate traditional cigarette smoking using heated vapor. A 2017 report from the U.S. Fire Administration cited 195 fires and explosions between 2009 and 2016, resulting in 133 injuries. About 29% of the injuries were severe.
Two of those 195 incidents happened in Kansas. A 2015 case in Wichita featured a battery explosion that reportedly sent pieces of the e-cigarette flying across the room, where they became embedded in the sheet rock walls.
Source: The Wichita Eagle
