http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/E-Cig-explodes-in-Wichita-mans-hand-336935941.html
WICHITA, Kan. — A Wichita man says he and his family are lucky after his e-cig explodes and pieces of it pierced through walls.
Jonathan Reser says his soon-to-be wife wanted him to stop smoking traditional cigarettes. He purchased an e-cigarette from a store near downtown Wichita.
Reser says he followed the manufactures guidelines on his e-cig, which he says cost around $112.00.
“I went charge the battery and went to put it into my e-cigarette, I heard a sizzling like it was hitting and I hadn’t pushed the button yet. I was on my way to listen to it and when I went to listen to it, it just went bam, like a bullet,” Reser said.
Reser says the e-cig broke into two pieces that penetrated opposite walls on his home and scattered pieces of metal and plastic across his home.
A FEMA report from October of 2014 says that when a lithium-ion battery fails on a e-cig, it can behave like a “flaming rocket.”
Reser says the e-cig exploded with enough force to kill someone and he is thankful he was the only one hurt; he suffered very minor burns to his hand.
He says that he took the e-cig back to the store. Reser says the store’s staff pointed to a sign that read “e-cigarettes can explode” and he says they told him he needed to purchase a small computer chip to keep the battery from exploding. Reser says the store did not offer to sell him the chip when he first purchased the e-cig.