Alright, before you all read this, I want you to understand that anytime you leave an electronic device on (cell phone, camera, chargers) in the hot sun and unattended, there is very possible chance for it to malfunction or the battery to explode, such as the case below. It’s common sense to not leave any electronic unattended, especially in a hot vehicle. Here’s the story…
GLENDALE, AZ (CBS5) –
An electronic cigarette charger exploded inside a car Wednesday afternoon that caught the backseat on fire.
The owner of the vehicle left the electronic cigarette charger plugged in and unattended when the lithium battery appears to have exploded, according to the Glendale Fire Department.
When the electronic cigarette charger exploded hot fragments flew into the back seat causing it to catch fire.
The fire was put out quickly, but significant damage was done to the car.
The Glendale Fire Department encourages you to never leave any electronics unattended in the vehicles while they are charging.
Source: http://www.kpho.com/story/22066822/unattended-electronic-cigarette-charger-explodes-car-catches-fire
Ok, so here’s what gets me – The comments. I’ll respond to them.
Couldn’t have said it better myself!
So can ipods, tablets and cell phones. Is that another sign?
Right! Let’s ban something that is saving lives so that people will continue to smoke and so the death toll will rise! (end sarcasm) – How are you protecting children if electronic cigarettes were banned?
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for ages 3 to 14 (based on 2006
figures, which are the latest mortality data currently available from the National
Center for Health Statistics).
Hey! Let’s ban cars too! (<- lots of sarcasm)
What did the car owner expect? It’s simple common sense. Totally irresponsible.
Our family just returned from vacation in Florida and while we were staying in our hotel one night my daughters boyfriend plugged his electronic cigarette into the charger to charge. At about 4am we were awakened by a huge exploding sound as the charger blew up over top of our heads setting the charger on fire and throwing sparks all over. It left burn marks all over the sheets and pillow cases and also hit my 5 month old granddaughter leaving blisters all over her head. Not a pleasant experience at all and I wish we would have retrieved the piece that we had to quickly pull out of the wall and throw outside that was on fire…I have a feeling that more incidents have occurred that haven’t been reported.
I’m sorry that you had to experience that. It’s why I can’t stress enough the importance of safety. The only way I can see that happening is if something malfunctioned with the device from a fall, water damage and such. Whatever the case, I’m glad no one was hurt and more importantly, I’m glad your granddaughter is alright.
I had an incident very similar to Tonya’s occur a couple of nights ago. I plugged my e-cig battery into the charger before going to bed (around 12:30). At 3:30 am, I too was awakened by a loud explosion sound and bright light. I sat up to see the battery, which was on the wall near my bed, on fire! I was able to put the fire out, however there were burn marks across my carpet to the edge of my bed. Luckily my bed sits very high and I was not injured. It should be noted that I had just purchased this battery, it was only the second time charging it, and it had not fallen or been exposed to water. I am curious as to what brand of battery was involved in Tonya’s incident.