By FireRescue1 Staff
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Firefighters believe a fatal house fire that killed a man inside was started when his vape pen exploded.
NBC News reported that St. Petersburg firefighters responded to the home of Tallmadge D’Elia after they received a call from a smoke alarm monitoring company.
Lt. Steven Lawrence, who is the deputy fire marshal, said the fire originated in the bedroom, and they believe the lithium battery in D’Elia’s vape pen exploded and started the fire, resulting in D’Elia’s death.
“From the information we gathered on scene through process of elimination, we narrowed it down that the ignition source was a vape that was being used,” Lt. Lawrence said.
The official cause of the fire was not released, but Lt. Lawrence said D’Elia’s injuries were consistent with those of a lithium-ion battery explosion.
“We believe that there’s a possibility that the battery pack used in the vape mod had an issue and exploded, and that was the ignition of the fire,” he said.
D’Elia’s father, Christopher, said his son began vaping several years ago to quit smoking, a habit he picked up while working in the television industry.
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“A lot of people who work in TV end up smoking, so he picked up vaping to try and stop smoking cigarettes,” Christopher said. “I saw him using it and I didn’t think about any inherent dangers of using it, but now I know that there’s something not right. He was a very bright, friendly, happy guy who loved kids; a really nice individual. People loved him.”
Although this is not the first occurrence of an explosion caused by vape pens, advocates stand by the safety of the products.
“Millions of adults use vapor products regularly and incidents like these are not common,” American Vaping Association president Gregory Conley said. “When charged, stored and used under proper conditions, vapor products pose no more of a fire risk than cellphones and laptops that use similar lithium-ion batteries.”
He did, however, add that batteries that are damaged or unwrapped can cause short circuits.
“For those consumers wishing to use more advanced products, learning and practicing battery safety is a must,” Conley said.