A man was left with horrific burns on his leg after his vape exploded 'like a bomb going off' inside his trouser pocket.
Contractor Richard Bingham said he was struggling to work out where a sound of 'hissing and popping' was coming from while working at a London hopsital last summer.
"It stopped and all of a sudden I felt this heat in my pocket and I knew straight away what was happening," he said.
The 37-year-old tried to pull his vape from his pocket - but it was too hot to touch.
"Everyone was helping me as I was trying to get my boots undone so I could get my trousers off but it was too late," he said. "I was already badly burnt.
“It all happened so quickly but I have never felt pain like it. I can laugh about it now but I’ve never been so scared – it was like a bomb going off in my pocket.”
Richard, who was fortunately already at the Whittington Hospital in Upper Holloway where staff had tried to pour water on his burns, was taken to the emergency department for treatment.
Investigators with the London Fire Brigade believe the keys in Richard’s pocket may have caused the vape’s battery to short-circuit.
The dad-of-one suffered third degree burns on his left leg and had blistering to his hand where he had tried to get the vape out of his pocket.
He says the incident has left him with bad scarring but it could have been even worse if he hadn’t happened to be working in a hospital at the time.
Richard, who has been vaping for around four years, admitted that he had no idea that contact with metal could lead to his vape exploding - despite his girlfriend working in a vape shop.
He said: "I must have been lucky as I’ve always had change or keys in my pocket - I just don’t think people are aware of the dangers.
“I did try to give up and haven’t been able to, but I’m so careful now.
"I’ve got one of the cases to keep everything in and I never carry my vape around with me and if I see other people vaping I walk away.”
The fire service has warned of the potential dangers of vaping and is urging vape owners to ensure they are charging their equipment safely.
London Fire Brigade’s deputy assistant commissioner for fire safety, Charlie Pugsley, said: “Compared to the number of fires we see caused by cigarettes, vaping could be seen as a much safer option.
“However, we are concerned that there are often cases such as Richard’s where the batteries have short-circuited and gone out but there is a very real potential of them starting a serious fire.
“If you are using vaping products it’s vital you only use the charger it was supplied with and never overcharge it.”
