I wouldn't fret just yet. We don't now the specifics of the set up. Such as did they soak then fire, or just drop the just on a lit coil
I know, they more than likely fired a sub-ohm for way longer than I would be. I typically fire for about 1-2 seconds but I would imagine that someone not familiar with sub-ohms would fire for 5-10 seconds on a partially dry wick and wind up creating a very unrealistic scenario.