A three-year-old boy, who was with his mom in a car, was reported to have suffered first and second degree burns from a fire caused from an e-cigarette explosion.
The mother identified as Kinzie Barlow of Mount Pleasant narrated that they were travelling to Provo when she noticed a strange smell in the car. She added that there was a sudden explosion and a flash. She claimed that her e-cigarette had exploded in its charger and it shot out a white-hot copper coil that bounced off the ceiling and landed on her son’s car seat. She added that the coil had burned through the fabric cover and melted the hard plastic, sending flames shooting up the little boy’s body.
According to the article, Kinzie Barlow attempted to smoother the fire with her shirt sleeve while her son was screaming in pain. When the shirt also caught fire, she grabbed an iced coffee from the front seat and used it to douse the flames. The mother was shaking badly after she was able to put out the fire.
Provo Fire Marshal Lynn Schofield confirmed that indeed the fire resulted from the exploded e-cigarette that was being charged in the car. Schofield added that he will call the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Monday. He also commented that the charger that was being used, was the original charger of the e-cigarette and not made by another company.
Fox13 tried to contact the e-cigarette company but a recorded message indicated that it was closed during the weekend.
The mother said that she had no idea about the potential danger of the e-cigarette charger. She added that if she knew something like that could happen, then she would not have bought it. She is now urging her friends who are using the same product to throw it away.
Khonor Barlow was reported to be in a good spirits as of Saturday and he talked about his burns on his elbow, lower back and butt that hurt but said he is okay.
Christensen & Hymas is glad that the boy is recovering from the incident. Experiences such as these can have traumatic and scarring effects.
Christensen & Hymas specializes in personal injury cases. Call us at (801)506-0800 for a free initial consultation on compensation claims.
Original article by Meredith Forrest Kulwicki and Adam Rodriquez of Fox13
Image not of mentioned charger, courtesy of Wikipedia