Smokers Alert! E-Cigarette Explodes in NYC

Despite campaigns that aim to illuminate the harmful effects of smoking, 17% of Americans still consider themselves smokers at present. The statistics is incredibly daunting since smoking does not only affect people who smoke but also those around them. According to the Center of Disease Control or CDC, half a million people succumb to disease as direct result of smoking - 42,000 of those deaths results from second hand smoke. This number accounts for one in five deaths every day.

Because of the real and very detrimental effects smoking to the body, many longtime smokers has replaced traditional cigarettes with battery operated e-cigs. Unfortunately, it seems like the alternative is not much safer.

A few days ago, in New York City's Grand Central Station, Fox News reported about an e-cigarette exploding while it was inside a man's trousers. According to witnesses, the vaporizer pen made an explosion similar to fireworks. The man who owned the pen suffered from minor leg and hand burns and was subsequently rushed by a private ambulance to nearby hospital. Fortunately, aside from minor burns no one else was affected by the explosion. Even the train service remained on regular schedule.

The recent incident is not the first time an electronic cigarette or other similar battery operated smoking devices have caught in flame.

According to a comprehensive list gathered by EcigOne, an incident happened in California March of this year. The victim was using the e-cigarette moments before it exploded. The altercation resulted to burns in the face that required surgery.

More recently in April, a Chevrolet Trailblazer caught fire in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Illinois. The fire has already spread to a second vehicle before the firefighters arrived. According to the investigation, the fire started from a e-cigarette that was left charging in the first affected car.