E-cigarette explodes in man's pants while shopping in store
The incident was caught on surveillance video.
An e-cigarette exploded unexpectedly in a man's pocket recently while he was shopping at a store in Anaheim, California.
The incident was caught on surveillance video and shows the man shopping for televisions in a store Monday when suddenly flames burst from his pants, burning part of his clothing off.
"We looked back and there was smoke," said Antelmo Lara, the manager of the store who was writing a receipt for the victim when he heard the explosion, to ABC station KABC.
As the victim went to the restroom to tend to his burns, Lara stomped out the battery that was still on fire. The victim told KABC that he eventually went to the hospital for treatment.
This isn't the first electronic cigarette incident. In May, a Florida man died after parts of an e-cigarette penetrated his head, an autopsy determined.
Tallmadge D'Elia, 38, suffered thermal injuries to about 80 percent of his body, according to an autopsy report.
His body was found inside a burning home and his death was ruled accidental.
The U.S. Fire Administration conducted a report and found that fires or explosions from e-cigarette batteries were not common; however, when the battery dies it can replicate a "flaming rocket." The report examined incidents from 2009 to 2016 and stated no one had died from e-cigarette fires in the United States.
