Exploding vape pen may have caused deadly Florida house fire, investigators say

[SnapDragon NY]

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Exploding vape pen may have caused deadly Florida house fire, investigators say
Published May 06, 2018

FoxNews.com
A deadly fire in Historic Old Northeast St. Petersburg possibly was caused by an exploding vape pen, according to St. Pete Fire Rescue.

The fire happened around 9 a.m. Saturday on the second floor of the two-story home.

Emergency crews said they there were no flames or smoke visible when they arrived, but inside they found heavy smoke and the body of 38-year-old Tallmadge D’Elia.


St. Pete Fire Rescue says D’Elia had severe facial injuries, believed to be a result of his vape pen exploding near his face.

They think that explosion also caused the fire.

Firefighters warn those who use vape pens and e-cigarettes to follow the device’s directions for use carefully.

“We do have cases where the vape pens have exploded and they have caused fires. That’s one of the reasons we don’t allow them at special events or any type of indoor facilities, just because they are dangerous and hazardous,” explained Deputy Marshal Steven Lawrence.

The Pinellas County Coroner will determine D’Elia’s official cause of death.

 

[SteveS45]

Firefighters warn those who use vape pens and e-cigarettes to follow the device’s directions for use carefully.

It appears there is unreported evidence of misuse from this statement in the article................................

 

[pulsevape]

apparently the vape pen was made by Putin.

 

[5150sick]

Wouldn't / Couldn't it be possible that the actual heat from the fire caused the vape pen to explode?

I am positive that if I lit all my mods on fire that there would be multiple explosions from exploding 18650's.

Notice the slick wording:

"Exploding vape pen may have caused deadly Florida house fire, investigators say"

The 1st sentence:

"A deadly fire in Historic Old Northeast St. Petersburg possibly was caused by an exploding vape pen, according to St. Pete Fire Rescue."

Sure and it MAY have POSSIBLY been the m*th lab in the basement too. Right?

 

[5150sick]

"St. Pete Fire Rescue says D’Elia had severe facial injuries, believed to be a result of his vape pen exploding near his face.

They think that explosion also caused the fire."

So in other words these people haven't the slightest clue what happened so they are taking wild guesses.

But even if it's all true and the vape pen just exploded out of nowhere for no reason whatsoever that would be one "vaping in the bed" death this year compared to how many "smoking in bed" deaths?

 

[Ralph_K]

Sounds like fake news. Real new doesn't need maybes and is based on facts

 

[hellcatrydr]

Vape pens ATE MY BABY!!!

 

[5150sick]

Vape pens ATE MY BABY!!!

You must have had 100 babies in the past 4 years or so.

 

[hellcatrydr]

You must have had 100 babies in the past 4 years or so.

I know, right?! dammit I have teh worst luck with babies!

 

[5150sick]

I know, right?! dammit I have teh worst luck with babies!

You should try kittens

 

[UncleRJ]

Wouldn't / Couldn't it be possible that the actual heat from the fire caused the vape pen to explode?

I am positive that if I lit all my mods on fire that there would be multiple explosions from exploding 18650's.

Notice the slick wording:

"Exploding vape pen may have caused deadly Florida house fire, investigators say"

The 1st sentence:

"A deadly fire in Historic Old Northeast St. Petersburg possibly was caused by an exploding vape pen, according to St. Pete Fire Rescue."

Sure and it MAY have POSSIBLY been the m*th lab in the basement too. Right?

Great points Mr. Sick!

Also, they seem to be somewhat aware that things go BOOM if not used correctly

 

[CactusFanaticus]

I figured this was what a guy at work was talking about, I came to the news section looking for it. He walked up to me, pointed at my tube mech and said “ One of those blew up and killed a man, it was on the news” I said well then he was probably ignorant and careless.

Good to know they really have no idea what caused the fire, but the vape pen automatically gets the blame.

 

[pulsevape]

soon we will need conceal carry mod licenses.

 

[JuicyLucy]

I figured this was what a guy at work was talking about, I came to the news section looking for it. He walked up to me, pointed at my tube mech and said “ One of those blew up and killed a man, it was on the news” I said well then he was probably ignorant and careless.

Good to know they really have no idea what caused the fire, but the vape pen automatically gets the blame.

Big difference between a pen and a real tube also

 

[SnapDragon NY]

I know this is a 2011 report on house fires and fatalities due to tobacco products
Vaping is still the much safer alternative!


Report: NFPA's "The Smoking-Material Fire Problem"
Author: John R. Hall, Jr.
Issued: July 2013

Analysis of fires involving smoking materials (i.e., tobacco products), including recent trends, data from other countries, and what materials are most often ignited.

Executive Summary
In 2011, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated 90,000 smoking-material fires in the U.S., largely unchanged from 90,800 in 2010. These fires resulted in an estimated 540 civilian deaths, 1,640 civilian injuries and $621 million in direct property damage; deaths were down substantially from the year before.

Home structure fires dominated all these measures of loss except for fire incidents. In 2011, an estimated 17,600 smoking-material home structure fires caused 490 civilian deaths (19% of all home structure fire deaths), 1,370 civilian injuries and $516 million in direct property damage. The other 72,400 smoking-material fires in 2011 were mostly outdoor fires (60,200 fires in trash, vegetation and other outdoor combustibles).

Estimates of fires reported to U.S. municipal fire departments are based on data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and the NFPA annual survey. "Smoking materials" are lighted tobacco products but do not include lighting implements such as matches and lighters. Smoking materials are identified under heat source, and estimates include a proportional share of fires coded as heat source unknown or as unknown between smoking material and open flame source.

 

[VelvetA]

They did the autopsy and it was actually death by exploding mod (not 'vape pen')

The explosion sent two pieces of the vape pen into his cranium, the report said. The official cause of death was "projectile wound of head"

http://www.tampabay.com/news/public...n-fatally-wounded-St-Petersburg-man_168257514

 

[SteveS45]

"According to the Food and Drug Administration the exact causes of vape pen explosions aren’t yet clear; however, it could stem from battery-related issues.

Possibly misuse or abuse but they will never say the user used it unsafely.

 

[Mykreign]

Darwinism?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[SteveS45]

It was a Mech and I doubt they will look into what battery was in it and what coil he was firing.

 

[PoppaVic]

<shrug> Still, afaict, not proven the ORIGIN was his stupid mech. The fire-investigators are - in theory - quite skilled, (if it's not an insurance fraud, I suppose). So, prove it folks or stfu ;-)

That said.. It's still shock-news and not statistically even remotely significant.

 

[SteveS45]

The explosion sent two pieces of the vape pen into his cranium, the report said.

I would say this is definitely COD.

 

[PoppaVic]

Hey, I am all for Darwinism. otoh, the fucknuts will make a huge "cause celebre" - why? So they can fuck us more.

I'm happy to see dumb-ass-dies-doesn't-breed. Meanwhile, they turds will use it to justify new laws, agencies and legislation to skull-fuck you. To protect "the population" - and (of course) "save the children".

We'll see "advocates" that somehow get paid well to never accomplish anything - and lobbys - and then congresscritters and state-level elected officials with similar agendas.

Just.Say.Fucking.NO.PISS-OFF.

 

[SteveS45]

I would like to see further forensic examination to determine the cause of the MOD exploding and causing shrapnel to embed in his cranium. Like was it Post Mortum?

 

[SteveS45]

Chicken or the egg....................... did the MOD cause the fire or did the fire cause the MOD to explode?

 

[Carambrda]

I don't think I need a French dictionary to know what this Faux News is.

 

[PoppaVic]

I would like to see further forensic examination to determine the cause of the MOD exploding and causing shrapnel to embed in his cranium. Like was it Post Mortum?

I would bet both nuts they won't provide such info, or they will word it weasel-like.

 

[5150sick]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-reg-exploding-vape-pen-death-20180516-story.html

"The vape was manufactured by Smok-E Mountain."

THIS is NOT a fucking "Vape Pen":

 

[r055co]

Yep the reporters don't have a fucking clue on even the basic's.

I'm so tired of New's Idiots but mostly tired of fucking idiots jumping into Mech's that don't take the time to learn the basic's about Mech's. The results are going to be at the minimum Mech's are going to get banned due to these fucking idiots and that really pisses me off to no end. Personally I feel safer vaping on a Mech but I also took the time to learn.

 

[5150sick]

We all know that it's just as plausible that the fire caused the mech to explode.

I don't know about you all but when I am sleeping there is at least one mod close enough to me to where if the mod just decided that it felt like exploding out of nowhere I would most likely be hit by shrapnel.

 

[JuicyLucy]

We all know that it's just as plausible that the fire caused the mech to explode.

I don't know about you all but when I am sleeping there is at least one mod close enough to me to where if the mod just decided that it felt like exploding out of nowhere I would most likely be hit by shrapnel.

That is true for me

 

[5150sick]

I also took the time to learn.

I started Vaping in summer 2012 and was tinkering with building by the beginning of 2013.

I started learning to build with an IGO W RDA and used ECF along with old youtube building vids.

I remember starting with 32ga and 30ga kanthal along with braided silica.

I remember being petrified the first time I did my first build which was a 2.0 ohm build on a Vamo V2 running at a whopping 14 watts!

But this also caused me to respect the power of the cells that we use.

I think that is a very important part of learning to build that a lot of Vapers who walk in to vape shops and "just want the one that blows the biggest clouds" miss out on.

They do not respect the power of lithium technology

 

[r055co]

I started Vaping in summer 2012 and was tinkering with building by the beginning of 2013.

I started learning to build with an IGO W RDA and used ECF along with old youtube building vids.

I remember starting with 32ga and 30ga kanthal along with braided silica.

I remember being petrified the first time I did my first build which was a 2.0 ohm build on a Vamo V2 running at a whopping 14 watts!

But this also caused me to respect the power of the cells that we use.

I think that is a very important part of learning to build that a lot of Vapers who walk in to vape shops and "just want the one that blows the biggest clouds" miss out on.

They do not respect the power of lithium technology

Yep, what fucking amazes me is the sheer number of people who don't even know how to build using Mech's.

I was late to the Vape world but have enough sense to do a bit of research before jumping in to things like before I even picked up Vape for the first time.

 

[inspects]

Yep, what fucking amazes me is the sheer number of people who don't even know how to build using Mech's.

I was late to the Vape world but have enough sense to do a bit of research before jumping in to things like before I even picked up Vape for the first time.

The only thing we can pray for is they stop breeding.

 

[VapeNMirrors]

Just ban mechs without vents and save these poor fools. Nobody should make such a thing.

 

[r055co]

Just ban mechs without vents and save these poor fools. Nobody should make such a thing.

Agreed and go after malicious companies like eFest, AWT, etc. who grossly inflate battery limits

 

[Carambrda]

Just ban mechs without vents and save these poor fools. Nobody should make such a thing.

Vent holes are for when a battery vents. Battery venting is not the same thing as thermal runaway (i.e. the battery catching on fire, and turning into a rocket engine and or exploding) so having vent holes versus having no vent holes has little to no relevancy as for what really happened in this particular incident, as vent holes won't stop an explosion nor keep you from getting hurt in the explosion... they only allow the pressure from the battery venting to escape from the mod, not the extreme pressure from an exploding battery. People see that there are no vent holes in the mod so they automatically blame everything on that. Pretty much similar to how you can get sentenced for murdering someone after a few witnesses saw you sitting next to the murder weapon.

 

[VapeNMirrors]

If it had vents it wouldn't have killed the guy.

 

[Carambrda]

If it had vents it wouldn't have killed the guy.

It most likely would have. They are vent holes, NOT thermal runaway holes.

 

[VapeNMirrors]

This guy wasn't killed by heat, he was killed from shrapnel from a pipe bomb he called a vape. If the gases are vented there's not pressure to explode and maybe he burns his house down and/or scotches himself but likely lives.

 

[The Cromwell]

That is true for me

Yep Kbox Mini with STM on nightstand. always, unless being vaped.

 

[Carambrda]

This guy wasn't killed by heat, he was killed from shrapnel from a pipe bomb he called a vape. If the gases are vented there's not pressure to explode and maybe he burns his house down and/or scotches himself but likely lives.

Ask Mooch if you don't wanna believe me. Vent holes are extremely helpful in the event of a battery venting inside the mod as the pressure buildup inside the mod can cause the mod to burst into pieces thereby creating shrapnel, but when the inside of the battery catches on fire we're no longer talking about battery venting, in which case the effect of the vent holes is reduced to almost zero effect because now we're talking about thermal runaway, which, again, is something completely different, and that's still a fact whether you choose to believe it or not.

 

[VapeNMirrors]

Ask Mooch if you don't wanna believe me. Vent holes are extremely helpful in the event of a battery venting inside the mod as the pressure buildup inside the mod can cause the mod to burst into pieces thereby creating shrapnel, but when the inside of the battery catches on fire we're no longer talking about battery venting, in which case the effect of the vent holes is reduced to almost zero effect because now we're talking about thermal runaway, which, again, is something completely different, and that's still a fact whether you choose to believe it or not.

If it can vent gases it can dissipate a lot of heat that could prevent a full runaway in the first place. (heat =~ pressure). If the cell does blow it'll have notably less pressure if not encased in a pipe bomb. I saw no venting in the pic of the mech.

 

[The Cromwell]

Venting holes in all the tube mechs I have seen will only handle a minor venting event.
They are kind of like an early warning whistle to know when to throw the mod.

 

[VapeNMirrors]

Venting holes in all the tube mechs I have seen will only handle a minor venting event.
They are kind of like an early warning whistle to know when to throw the mod.

This poor sob never got the warning. Probably can't save them all...

 

[The Cromwell]

Anytime a mech is hissing and you are NOT pressing the fire button.
The results can run from bad to catastrophic.

You MAY be able to unscrew the switch in time or you may not....
If you have a rewrapped by vendor battery in there your chances of a good outcome drop dramatically.


Same if you press the fire button and your atty does not fire. Could be a dead short and keeping pressing the fire button vs figuring out what is wrong can turn out very badly.

 

[Carambrda]

If it can vent gases it can dissipate a lot of heat that could prevent a full runaway in the first place. (heat =~ pressure). If the cell does blow it'll have notably less pressure if not encased in a pipe bomb. I saw no venting in the pic of the mech.

Again, no. The holes would have to be huge (like the Swiss mod by Comp Lyfe) to make any kind of notable difference in pressure if the battery explodes, and the heat of the gas that escapes from the battery if the battery vents is microscopic compared to the heat that's required to be able to go into thermal runaway. The metal itself dissipates a ton more heat. There is only one reported incident of a battery explosion where the vent holes did matter... it was due to the combination of BOTH the pressure from having no vent holes AND the shock from landing on a hard floor after throwing the mech mod so the battery exploded on impact, and, if the mod hadn't been thrown, then the battery more than likely wouldn't have exploded. In fact vent holes don't necessarily always matter a great deal, even for battery venting. It actually depends on the design and construction of the mod in question, as not all mech mods without vent holes create shrapnel when they burst due to the pressure from battery venting, i.e. it depends on how they burst─how they are designed to burst, or not to.

 

[Carambrda]

Venting holes in all the tube mechs I have seen will only handle a minor venting event.
They are kind of like an early warning whistle to know when to throw the mod.

Throwing the mod is not necessarily always the best solution, as that also depends... immediately putting the mod down on a non-flammable surface and running away fast is very often preferred. When possible, submerging the mod in a (very nearby) sink or bucket of water is the best way to stop and to prevent thermal runaway.

 

[VapeNMirrors]

Again, no. The holes would have to be huge (like the Swiss mod by Comp Lyfe) to make any kind of notable difference in pressure if the battery explodes, and the heat of the gas that escapes from the battery if the battery vents is microscopic compared to the heat that's required to be able to go into thermal runaway. The metal itself dissipates a ton more heat. There is only one reported incident of a battery explosion where the vent holes did matter... it was due to the combination of BOTH the pressure from having no vent holes AND the shock from landing on a hard floor after throwing the mech mod so the battery exploded on impact, and, if the mod hadn't been thrown, then the battery more than likely wouldn't have exploded. In fact vent holes don't necessarily always matter a great deal, even for battery venting. It actually depends on the design and construction of the mod in question, as not all mech mods without vent holes create shrapnel when they burst due to the pressure from battery venting, i.e. it depends on how they burst─how they are designed to burst, or not to.

Let's just say we agree that designs should incorporate features to minimize and mitigate the risk and impact of behaving like a pipe bomb. ; )

 

[Carambrda]

If you have a rewrapped by vendor battery in there your chances of a good outcome drop dramatically.

Personally I feel safer with a rewrap of the VTC5D knowing that it is a rewrap of the VTC5D than I feel with any 20 amp battery. Knowing that the rewrap you're using has a higher CDR is safer than using a lower CDR... period.

 

[Carambrda]

Let's just say we agree that designs should incorporate features to minimize and mitigate the risk and impact of behaving like a pipe bomb. ; )

Let's just say you know as well as I do that knowledge about battery safety and knowledge about the mechanics of the mod you're using are paramount. I'm more worried about people using a regulated mod thinking they are perfectly safe to use, and I'm more worried about mech mods taking all the blame when the reality is that more accidents happen with people using a regulated mod who know jack shit about batteries and battery safety. To hell with scapegoat politics. People need to grow a brain before they can have a say in where society needs to evolve and that's it.