E-cigarette wrecked car when it EXPLODED 'like a firework' while being charged overnight leaving seats destroyed and windows blackened
- - Chris Thomas says his £29.99 Vapouriz Tank blew up as it charged in car
- - Mr Thomas, 37, from Maesycwmmer, south Wales, said 'This is terrifying'
- - He has had two previous, cheaper e-cigarettes blow up while charging
- - The father of three and former smoker is now giving up altogether
- - E-cigarettes are used by 1.5m people in the UK and 3.5m people in the U.S.
- - Vapouriz UK say the liquid is not flammable and Mr Thomas may have been
using the wrong charger
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A motorist said today that his car was wrecked when his electronic cigarette exploded while charging.
Chris Thomas, 37, said the e-cigarette shot out of the 12V power socket 'like a firework' and landed on the back seat of his Skoda company car, setting setting fire to the upholstery.
Flames destroyed the rear seat and a child seat, scorched the front headrests and visors and left all the windows badly smoke blackened.
Burnt out: Chris Thomas says his car seat was destroyed when his e-cigarette exploded while charging up
The father of one, 37, from Maesycwmmer in south Wales, with the e-cigarette he says set fire to his car
Father of three Mr Thomas, from Maesycwmmer, South Wales, says he had left the £29.99 device charging overnight in the 12V power socket of his company-owned Skoda Superb.
The vehicle engineer said: 'The car alarm went off in the early hours of the morning so I went
out and saw there was no-one around and clicked it off and went back to bed.
'I got up about an hour later for work and when I went out to the car I found everything burnt out.
'The cigarette had been charging in the front point and it's as if it went off like a firework. Even the front visors are burnt through.
'I can't believe what happened. When I told my partner she was shocked. What if it was in the house charging and had gone off inside?
Ruined: The windows of the car were completely blackened by the explosion which happened overnight
'God knows what would have happened then, or if it had gone off when we were driving and
I've got children inside the car.'
Mr Thomas, from Maesycwmmer, South Wales, has not been told how much it will cost to
repair the damage to the year-old estate car but the bill could run into thousands.
He started smoking e-cigarettes four months ago in an attempt to kick his 40-a-day habit.
One of 1.3m Britons who have taken up the devices in recent years, Mr Thomas chose a Vaporiz Tank which is topped up using a liquid.
The firm's website warns users not to leave the cigarettes unattended as they charge up,
which can take around four hours.
Astonishing damage: The £29.99 Vaporiz Tank is one of the more expensive e-cigarettes on the market
Mr Thomas, who said he'd tried two cheaper alternatives before but they both blew up a USB drive, said he was now planning to give up the tobacco alternative altogether.
He added: 'I used to be a heavy smoker but I've not touched a cigarette for four months since I tried these.
'I know a lot of people who smoke and I've told them about the electronic cigarette. The product is excellent, but the thought of it blowing up is terrifying.
'It is supposed to be the best in the market so what are the cheaper ones like? The whole situation has scared me.
'They are meant to be the saviour but when you see the see the state of the car it makes you wonder what chemicals are inside them. I want people to realise they can be dangerous.'
A spokesman for Vapouriz, which offers advice on charging the devices on its website, said: 'Chris Thomas has not contacted us with regards to any complaint, and actually purchased ‘e-liquid’, which in its diluted form is not flammable, from us only four days ago.
'Mr Thomas, having used three different brands of e-cigarettes over a four-month period, has allegedly had each one ‘blow up’ – this leads me to think that he may be using wrong or unsuitable chargers.'
The spokesman said: 'We do warn users not to leave the cigarettes unattended as they charge up, so this does not mean you should leave them in your car overnight.'
As e-cigarettes have grown in popularity there have been an increasing number of incidents concerning their safety.
Three-year-old Khonor Barlow was burnt when his mother's e-cigarette exploded as they drove in Utah
A three-year-old boy in America suffered burns when his mother's e-cigarette exploded while charging last week.
Khonor Barlow was burnt after his mother's White Rhino device bounced off her car's ceiling and onto the boy as he sat in a car seat in the back as they drove in their hometown of Mount Pleasant, Utah.
E-CIGARETTES - WHAT ARE THEY?
An electronic cigarette (or e-cigarette), personal vaporiser (PV), or electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) is an electronic inhaler meant to simulate and substitute for tobacco smoking.
It uses a heating element that vaporises a liquid solution and some release nicotine, while others merely release flavoured vapour.
They are as effective as nicotine patches for helping smokers to quit, according to a recent University of Auckland study.
E-cigarettes are currently used by millions of people around the world as a replacement for real cigarettes
Laws vary widely concerning their use and sale, and are the subject of pending legislation and ongoing debate.
In theory they can be used anywhere: planes, hospitals or restaurants, but some companies are banning them on varying grounds, perhaps because they bother other people.
One French study claims they contain carcinogenic chemicals that make some as harmful as normal tobacco.
They are used by more than 3.5m Americans and 1.5m people in the UK.
Big tobacco has jumped en masse into the e-cigarette market and all the major cigarette makers now make them.
As they've grown in popularity there have been several reports of e-cigarettes exploding due to the lithium-ion batteries inside them becoming overheated
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