Why you should never fall asleep with a charging vape: Shocking image reveals destruction caused by ‘knock-off Lost Mary’ that exploded
- ‘Fake’ Lost Mary explodes and damages a man’s bed in South East London
- In another incident, the man had blown out three teeth when the vapor exploded
This shocking image shows the destruction caused by a ‘knock-off’ Lost Mary vape – which exploded after being charged.
Dom, 29, who declined to give his last name, found the damaged mattress after smelling smoke in his flat in New Cross, south-east London.
He had bought the e-cigarette for £9.99 days earlier from a liquor store in nearby Deptford and was charging the battery.
But when he smelled smoke, he went to investigate – and saw a blaze of fire raging on his bed.
It comes after a man whose vape exploded in his mouth issued a warning to other vapers after his teeth were blown out.
Fortunately for Dom, the fire only damaged the bed and left the rest of his flat untouched
In the latest incident, Dom says the vape looked like a reputable Lost Mary brand, but now thinks it was a fake.
He said of the scare: “You hear these stories about vaping – so it wasn’t a huge surprise. The alarm went off for five minutes
“I went into the hallway and saw thick smoke and went into the bedroom and the bed was on fire.
“I didn’t really know what it was until I got into the room, but my vapor was in the wall and it was in the center of the fire.
‘It’s from a not-so-brilliant-looking shop in Deptford, where they sell them a little cheaper than anywhere else.
“I always wondered if they were fakes – and that confirmed my suspicions.”
Fortunately, the fire only damaged the bed and left the rest of his rented flat untouched.
He added: ‘After I put it out, the rest of the day was spent scraping molten plastic off the floor. It looks like there won’t be any permanent damage to the property itself as it’s all coming off the floor.’
While the incident hasn’t stopped Dom from vaping, he says he won’t cut back on it in the future.
He said, ‘I’m not going to buy them from convenience stores in the future.
“It hasn’t put me off too much — but I won’t be buying there. It cost me £9.99 – and normally they would be about £15.’
Lost Mary has been contacted for comment.
Meanwhile, last year ‘Paul’, 39, from Bedale in North Yorkshire, had three of his teeth blown out when his vape’s battery exploded while using it on his way home from work.
He was forced to stumble back to the offices, his face and hands covered in blood, to raise the alarm.
The factory worker underwent a series of medical procedures to reconstruct his mouth and teeth.
He also suffered a severe trauma to his tongue at the explosion making it very difficult for him to swallow.
Paul says the vape’s battery, bought from Amazon from a Chinese manufacturer, was the part that exploded.