Woman’s Vape Explodes While Checking Out, Looks Like Magic Trick

Mara McInerney wasn’t expecting her bag to spew out a giant plume of black smoke while visiting the Sunglasses Hut. And she certainly wasn’t expecting her vape to catch fire and damage her expensive designer purse. But at least it looked cool when it happened.

McInerney was carrying her pink KangerTech vape in her $1,900 Louis Vuitton purse, which was not the best idea, given that her vape exploded. Thanks to the handy lithium battery that powers the vape, everything inside her bag got singed.

“Terrifying, scary. It sounded like a gunshot. It sounded like a bomb went off,” McInerney said about the horrifying moment her bag belched black smoke. “I thought someone had put something in my bag.”

Though no one was injured in this incident – well, except her ridiculously expensive purse – this isn’t the first reports of vapes exploding. Back in February, a man in Kentucky was carrying his vape in his pocket when it exploded. Another man was burned when his exploded while he was using it. Both of those incidents resulted in serious burns.

Lithium batteries have been in the news a lot lately as they are linked to various devices catching fire, melting or, in this case, exploding. The most recent issue concerning these batteries has been in relation to the melting of numerous Samsung Galaxy Note 7s. Many of these phones have been recalled, and the FAA recently asked flyers to not use the device during flight, in case they overheat and catch fire.

So, if you happen to enjoy a good vape, double check the battery type and take caution if it happens to be lithium.

[H/T Gizmodo]