Exploding e-cig damages kitchen
A Canterbury woman’s plan to quit smoking nearly proved a greater health risk when her new vapouriser spontaneously exploded.
Chloe Jordan is now assessing the damage to her Rolleston home after the battery in the e-cigarette, left on the kitchen bench overnight, erupted with a ‘‘loud metallic sound’’ about 3am on Sunday.
She and her partner woke to a kitchen full of smoke, burns across the acrylic bench, and black splatters and shrapnel on the walls, ceiling and carpet.
Jordan said she charged the device earlier in the evening but took it off the charger before going to bed.
‘‘Normally I charge it in the bedroom. For whatever reason, I didn’t [last night] so I’m quite glad about that.’’
No-one was injured but the repair bill was likely to be in the thousands of dollars, she said.
The vapouriser was made by Smok and purchased from the Vapourium online store.
Vapourium marketing coordinator Maia Waters could not say what caused Jordan’s device to catch fire but said she would be looking into it.
‘‘In the meantime, we will be organising a product recall on all of this specific vapouriser bought in April, May and June of 2018, and contacting our suppliers and manufacturers as part of our investigation.’’
Vapourium had come across a number of faulty products in its four years of operation but had never seen a manufacturing flaw like this before, she said.
Vapourisers, or e-cigarettes, mimic smoked tobacco products but produce a vapour rather than smoke, which users inhale.
Liquid for the device can come with or without nicotine, in a variety of flavours. Most vapourisers are powered by a common lithium-ion battery, which can catch fire if they overheat.
Waters urged everyone using a vaping device to be aware of the safety precautions needed with lithium-ion batteries.
Jordan, who purchased her vape device as a New Year’s resolution, said people needed to be aware of the potential dangers.
Jordan said she had followed all the warranty instructions.
‘‘We have looked and we can’t figure out any way it would have caught fire,’’ she said.