A 20-year-old Santa Ana man was burned early Monday when the e-cigarette he was smoking in bed exploded, launching half of the e-cancer stick like a rocket until it lodged in the ceiling above him, according to authorities.
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The unidentified fellow sustained burns to his face and one hand, but it could have been worse because he first heard a humming sound and then pulled the e-cig away from his face when it went kablooey around 1:45 a.m. Monday, according to an Orange County Fire Authority fire captain who used much more official language than “kablooey.”
The explosion caused some clothing on the guy's bed in his apartment at 100 E. MacArthur Blvd. to catch fire, which he doused with water and patted down, OCFA Capt. Steve Concialdi told City News Service. The bed and clothing were still smoldering when firefighters arrived, he added.
It's a mystery why the e-cigarette exploded, although Concialdi noted there have been similar incidents, including an injury to a 17-year-old boy who was smoking one in Anaheim on Feb. 10.
Oh for the days when emphysema was all we had to worry about from smoking.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.