Unattended electronic cigarette charger explodes, car catches fire

[mctess]

Hi guys - I'm new here and not allowed to post anywhere yet. Does someone want to move this to the General News forum for me? This just happened a short while ago and thought people should see this.

Unattended electronic cigarette charger explodes, car catches fi - CBS 5 - KPHO

GLENDALE, AZ (CBS5) - An electronic cigarette charger exploded inside a car Wednesday afternoon that caught the backseat on fire.
The owner of the vehicle left the electronic cigarette charger plugged in and unattended when the lithium battery appears to have exploded, according to the Glendale Fire Department.
When the electronic cigarette charger exploded hot fragments flew into the back seat causing it to catch fire.
The fire was put out quickly, but significant damage was done to the car.
The Glendale Fire Department encourages you to never leave any electronics unattended in the vehicles while they are charging.

 

[Lessifer]

I thought the car had to be running, or at least on, for the charging ports to work. That's the way it is in my cars anyway.

 

[Underdawg736]

Oooops! How hot is it in Az? I've had a plastic toy literally melt into an unrecognizable mass in the middle of the summer here in Pa, I know Az weather is a bit more extreme in the heat department. I don't think any kind of electronic device would be safe in a car with an outside temp above 100F

Guess this'll get all the naysayers chugging on their Haterade!

 

[aPandaz]

Great...more ammo for the prohibitionists.

 

[mctess]

Great...more ammo for the prohibitionists.

The 4th poster on the story already says "need to ban these things..." blah blah

 

[Lessifer]

I heard that if you leave a Bic lighter in a car when it's hot, it explodes!!! They should ban lighters.

Also, hot coffee can burn you if you spill it in your lap while driving, ban hot coffee!!!

 

[jcco]

Ever notice how they blame electricity in one form or another when they don't really know what causes fire.....

 

[NGAHaze]

This only got press because it was an ecig ... the same thing could have happened with any device that had a lithium ion battery and was left charging.

And of course they blame the ecig rather than the crappy charger that caused the over-charged state in the first place!

 

[Underdawg736]

That USB adaptor does look a bit shady. What's deal with the red object where it connects into the cigg plug?? I'm gonna chulk this one up to operator error. That's definately not gonna buff out!

 

[tidegirl]

I thought the car had to be running, or at least on, for the charging ports to work. That's the way it is in my cars anyway.

It depends on the car. Many are connected where they will run without the keys being in it. Some require the car to be on. My latest car requires the key. I hate it LOL.

At least the FD is blaming electronics, not electronic cigs.

 

[the_vape_nerd]

The proper comeback in this situation is that fires are set all the time from smoking. See FEMA stats for example

USFA Smoking & Home Fires

In the U.S. this makes exactly 2 battery explosions from ecigs that I've heard about.

 

[Veni Vedi Vapo]

Yeah, same story. What about the fire that started the San Bernardino Forest?

 

[Zedd]

I've been doing this for a long time actually. Makes me think. I only have 1 backup battery so I want it in my car so it's always with me and I can't forget it somewhere like I do with everything else. Not sure how common this is maybe I should start plugging it in at home.. who knows.

 

[ClippinWings]

Well... He kinda deserved it...

Unattended charging... It was 88 degrees outside

Quick google search tells me that he was charging the battery in an evironment that may have been as high as 137 degrees... which is stupid.

The headline should read:

Ignorance catches car on fire...

But that wouldn't really sell, I guess.

 

[mommyofdoom]

Charging or not, battery + hot car = not good.

I accidentally left my mobile hotspot in my car once for an hour. When I came back out, the battery had swollen up and I was lucky the thing didn't burst.

So I'd definitely agree that ignorance was the true culprit here, not faulty electronics.

 

[klynnn]

Well all I can say is I've gotten smarter since I've been on this forum I have read the battery safety threads and I never charge anything unless I am there to keep an eye on it. Never leave batteries on a charger when not present. You see the results.

 

[Shreck]

same thing can happen to cell phones when it is hot.
You just have to be smarter than your battery...
Not a given these days apparently....

 

[BostLabs]

Oooops! How hot is it in Az? I've had a plastic toy literally melt into an unrecognizable mass in the middle of the summer here in Pa, I know Az weather is a bit more extreme in the heat department. I don't think any kind of electronic device would be safe in a car with an outside temp above 100F

Guess this'll get all the naysayers chugging on their Haterade!

It's not that hot here yet. Next week may be a different story though.

It is the battery. laptop and cell phone batteries were big on the blowing up hit parade several months back.