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Man Injured In Vape Explosion

Posted at 9:21 PM, Jan 14, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-14 22:35:53-05

A 19-year-old in White House was severely burned by his vape device when he left the battery cover off.

In September, his daily routine was put on hold when the  device caught fire in his pocket at work.  Preston said it was his third day working at the Dunkin Donuts store in White House when the incident happened.

Garrett Preston said, "It exploded at the sandwich station, I ran out into the lobby got my clothes on then some of them back on and I told my co-worker to call 911."

The vape mod device was meant to have a cover on it but Preston lost it.

Preston said, "I saw a pretty decent flame shoot out this way towards my pocket so it came out and then down and I think it was the battery acid that burned my stomach."

He was treated for his burns at Vanderbilt hospital.

Preston said, "I wouldn't wish the burns on anybody. It wasn't so much the hospital stay but the recovery process was really hard. I had to limp around for a month and a half."

He said the batteries in his vape mod rubbed against the keys in his pocket. He believes that sparked the fire.

Garrett Preston said, "So this part was off right here. And on these batteries they're wrappd up so only the part that touches the mod is exposed but these wraps can become cut and if they become cut and touch metal they can arc and explode."

Preston said he got the battery case for his new device, and he hopes other people will learn from his mistake.

Garrett Preston said, "It was pretty dumb, a complete user error. And it can be prevented but I don't want anyone else to do the same thing. If your batteries or the wraps are cut they sale the wraps for 99 cents the vape store and they'll wrap it for you."