E-cigarette battery 'went off like a flare' in Calgary man's pocket, causing 3rd-degree burns

A Calgary man has third-degree burns on his thigh and will likely need a skin graft to recover from a frightening incident on Friday night when the spare battery for his e-cigarette went up in flames in his pocket.

Terrence Johnson and his wife wereleaving The Embarcaderowine and oyster bar on 17th Avenue S.W. when Johnson's pocket caught fire.

He'd been carrying thespare battery in his pocket and it shorted out when it came into contact with some coins. Johnson said it"went off like a flare."

At firsthe thought it was his actual e-cigaretteor his cellphone that caught fire, rather than his spare battery.

When asked how to describe how he felt, Johnson was succinct: "Panic."

"When yourpants start going up in flames," Johnson said, "you kind of panic and go into shock."

And then there was the pain.

"I was trying to put out the flame with my hand," he said. "I ended up being able to get my belt undone and my pants down to my knees. I put my hand in a potted plant that had some snow in it.

"I got seated on a set of stairs and basically from there, I was trying not to pass out from the pain," Johnson added.

No warning

Johnson said the battery in question, sold by EfestPower, had no warning label about the dangers of putting it in a pocket.

When yourpants start going up in flames ... you kind of panic and go into shock.- Terrence Johnson

"There was nothing on the box packaging," he said.

"I have a second battery of the same maker and there's no warning on the actual battery itself."

His wife, Rachel Rex, picked up another battery from the same company. That one had a warning label on it, Johnson said.

CBC News has reached out to Efest Power for comment.

The company's website warns against mixing "batteries with metal stuff."

"Especially do not put any batteries in your pocket," the website reads in capital letters.

Johnson said he's received a lot of criticism since sharing his story.

"I wasn't aware that the battery could do this," he said. "There's a lot of web haters out there. They're stating [that it's] 100 per cent user error, that 'this guy's an idiot,' and stuff like that."

But he said he's speaking up so other people don't get a similar injury.

"I'm just trying to make people aware, to be cautious and careful," he said. "There have been people that have also thanked me because they have no idea."

Long recovery ahead

Johnson was transported to Foothills Hospital and has since been discharged, after suffering third-degree burns or damage to the full thickness of the skin on a large portion of his thigh.

He's getting treatment for the burnsand has an appointment with a plastic surgeon to talk about a skin graft.

"It was quite traumatizing," he said.

Johnson, a plumber and gas fitter,will be off work until he heals. To complicate matters for him and his family, his wifewasrecently laid off.

"It's very unfortunate and we're just trying to get through it," he said.

Dozens of reports of exploding batteries

This isn't the first time an e-cigarette or one of its components has caused injury. In January2016, ane-cigarette explodedwhile being smoked by a teen in Lethbridge, Alta., leaving him with first- and second-degree burns on his face.

In the U.S., theFood and Drug Administration announced in January that it wasprobing the dangersof exploding batteries in e-cigarettes,following dozens of reports of devices that have combusted, overheated or caught fire and sometimes injured users.

"Though they are extremely rare, there have been a couple of similar incidents in Canada in the last couple of years," said John Haste, the director of the Electronic Cigarette Trade Association.

"Consumers need to be aware of how to safely handle the batteries," he said. "Loose batteries should never be placed in your pocket without some sort of protective casing."

He said incidents like Johnson's can be prevented with better education.

"The bigger concern in the few cases we have seen has been consumer education and understanding that they are handling a battery and that the battery has dos and don'ts, with limits," he said.

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