Exploding Vaping Device Causes Fire At Bergen County Hotel

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A hotel had to be evacuated after a teenager's vaping device exploded and caught a bed on fire Monday, police said.

Rutherford Police officers, firefighters, and ambulance personnel responded to the Extended Stay America hotel at 750 Edwin L. Ward St. at 2:50 p.m. on a report of a fire, said Rutherford Police Capt. Patrick Feliciano.

A 19-year-old woman dropped her vaping device after it exploded and caught fire, Feliciano said. The girl dropped the device. It hit the edge of a mattress, which caught fire.

Hotel staff members and employees of T&R Alarm Systems, who were there checking the hotel's fire alarm system, quickly extinguished the fire, the captain said.

There were no reported injuries. Heavy smoke and a odor from the burning mattress spread throughout the hotel. Guests were eventually allowed to return to their rooms, Feliciano said.

Email daniel.hubbard@patch.com

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