E-Cigarette Reportedly Explodes In Atlanta

An explosive e-cigarette almost cost Elizabeth Wilkowski, of Atlanta, her home with a 4-foot tall flames as the battery stood charging while plugged into her home computer, she told WSBTV 2.

Here's Wilkowski recounting the event, which she says shook the walls of her house with a kaboom:

The e-cigarette was reportedly the brand eHit, which we've found on the ViperVape website. The Daily Mail asked the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association (TVECA) about the explosion:

TVECA co-founder Thomas Kiklas said that from the video of the incident involving the Atlanta explosion, it appeared that the e-cigarette may have been mismatched with the charging device.

Another possible explanation could be that Wilkowski may have left the device in the USB port for too long and got overcharged, according to Kiklas, who compared the smoking gadgets to cell phones or electric toothbrushes.

The co-founder of the trade association said that since 2007, when e-cigarettes first came into use in the U.S., he has heard of only one other incident in which a device exploded.

Comparing the image of the charger from the video, below:

To this image of the charger from the website, there are clear differences. It's pretty clear that the eCig was plugged into the wrong charger. Two plugs may look the same, or fit the same batteries but these parts aren't standardized like a computer USB cords are, so it's unsafe to mix-and-match them.