Man Seriously Burned By Exploding E-Cigarette in Atlantic Highlands

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS, NJ - A man was seriously burned on his leg by an exploding e-cigarette battery in Atlantic Highlands, Patch has learned. The incident happened just after noon on Easter Sunday and the burns were severe enough that he had to be rushed by medical helicopter to the St. Barnabas Burn Center in Livingston. The e-cigarette battery spontaneously exploded after brushing against his keys in his pants pocket, police said.

"He had two spare lithium ion batteries for the e-cigarette in his pants pocket, which ignited when they brushed up against his keys, said Capt. David Rossbach of the Atlantic Highlands police.

The man was in his mid 30s. The Atlantic Highlands First Aid Squad and police department responded to the call at 12:50 p.m. Sunday, for a report a leg burn as a result of an exploding e-cigarette battery. The medevac helicopter took off from Firemen's Field Sunday.

The man, who is not a resident of Atlantic Highlands, was in someone's home at the time of the explosion.

Exploding e-cigarette batteries are not unheard of. Loose batteries kept in pants pockets, where they can brush up against change, keys and other metals, are particularly a concern. As Patch reported last September, an Old Bridge woman was in a sunglasses shop in the Freehold Raceway Mall when a loose e-cigarette battery caused her purse to suddenly explode.

"I had the battery in this pocket by itself, it exploded through the pocket, charred and melted everything in the bag," Mara McInerney recalled. “The whole bag was engulfed in flames."

McInerney said she usually keeps her purse in the backseat of her car, next to her child in the car seat. She escaped injury, but others have not been so lucky. Injuries from exploding e-cigarette batteries include burns on the hands and face, fractured bones and even loss of eyesight.

As NBC News reported, Alexander Shonkwiler, a 19-year-old Colorado man, experienced a similar injury as the Atlantic Highlands man. His e-cigarette exploded while in his pants pocket, and even though he tore his pants off, he suffered a serious burn because the battery acid sprayed all over his leg and ignited. He kept spare batteries in his pocket and they exploded after brushing against loose coins.

"It's literally an explosion, a super-hot explosion," Dr. Anne Wagner of the University of Colorado Hospital (UCH) Burn Center told NBC News. Dr. Wagner said her hospital has treated six people seriously injured by e-cigarettes since the beginning of the year. "We're seeing deep third-degree burns and almost all of them require skin grafts and these grafts leave a significant scar."

Photo: Wikimedia Commons/e-cigarette