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posted by cmn32480 on Thursday May 17 2018, @05:47PM   Printer-friendly
from the i-thought-this-only-happened-in-cartoons dept.

El Reg reports

A forensics report has reported the first known death from the use of electronic cigarettes after a Florida man was killed when his device exploded and drove itself into his cranium.

Tallmadge D'Elia was vaping at home on May 5 when the vaping device, manufactured by Philippines-based Smok-E Mountain, exploded. An investigation by the Pinellas-Pasco medical examiner's office found the explosion fired two pieces of the vaping device into his head, causing death by "projectile wound of head".

D'Elia also suffered burns to 80 per cent of his body, the ABC News reports,[1] after the explosion caused a fire in his house. Firefighters found his lifeless body when they broke in to tackle the blaze.

A representative from Smok-E Mountain said that the problem was most likely a battery issue, or a problem with the atomizer D'Elia had in his mouth. It said the company had had problems with people cloning their devices and using bad batteries.

While D'Elia's death is a first, injuries from electronic cigarettes are surprisingly common. A report last year by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency found that between January 2009 and December 31, 2016 there were 195 incidents where vape pens overheated or exploded, leading to 133 acute injuries to users, 38 or which were described as "severe".

[1] Astounding use of whitespace in the page's source code.

Additional local coverage from Tampa Bay Times:
Autopsy: Vape pen explosion fatally wounded St. Petersburg man and St. Pete man is first U.S. vaping death. Are e-cigarettes safe?.


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  • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday May 18 2018, @01:17AM (1 child)

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Friday May 18 2018, @01:17AM (#680961)

    Wow, that's pretty scary. With so much stuff being made cheaply in China these days and seemingly little to no watchdog activity by our government, we may see more stuff like that.

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  • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Friday May 18 2018, @03:20PM

    by Immerman (3985) on Friday May 18 2018, @03:20PM (#681189)

    This was a solid, American-built lamp. I suspect a minor flaw in the cord insulation - I replaced it with a sturdier extension cord and haven't had any further problems.