A townhouse fire that erupted on the 5900 block of Vedder Road in Chilliwack, BC, Canada was likely caused by an exploding electronic cigarette, which one of the residents of the home noticed malfunctioning before it exploded.
By the account of the witness, who was one of three in the home at the time of the incident, the vape began sparking inside of a bag before it exploded. This in turn caught some combustible materials in the room on fire.
The Chilliwack Fire Department eventually arrived on the scene and extinguished the fire, which left minor damage to the interior of the townhouse.
There were no reported injuries as a result of the incident.
Chilliwack Fire Department’s Assistant Fire Chief, Andrew Brown, was quoted by the North Delta Reporter as having said that the fire appears to have been “caused by electronic smoking materials” and that it was “accidental” in nature.
“This fire appears to be accidental and caused by electronic smoking materials.”
The incident took place on January 18, 2018 at approximately 8:30 p.m.
By the time firefighters arrived at the scene, all of the building’s occupants had already managed to evacuate.
While this particular incident took place in Canada, incidents of exploding e-cigs are on the rise in the U.S., according to official data from the U.S. Fire Administration as well as the Food and Drug Administration.
According to the American Vaping Association, at least some of these incidents are caused, at least in part, by human error – the result of mishandling vaporizers and their batteries.
The issue with exploding batteries is by no means a phenomenon limited to e-cigs and other forms of vaporizers, as other types of electronic devices from smartphones to laptops have seen their own issues with exploding batteries.
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