E-cigarette battery ignites in man’s pocket, seriously burning him

An 18-year-old man was treated for serious burns after an e-cigarette battery ignited in his pocket at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Tuesday afternoon, according to a fire official.

The man was skateboarding across campus at 4:14 p.m. with an e-cigarette and a pair of spare batteries for the device in his pocket, Costa Mesa fire Capt. Chris Coates said.

“All of a sudden he realizes his leg is on fire,” Coates said.

A bystander quickly doused the flames, Coates said, and Costa Mesa paramedics treated first-, second- and possibly some small third-degree burns on the man’s leg and groin area.

Crews took him to the burn unit at UCI Medical Center in Orange, according to the Fire Department.

Authorities think the spare batteries that were loose in the man’s pocket started the fire. Coates said the batteries, specifically designed for the e-cigarette, can malfunction and ignite when they come in contact with other metal.

“That thing takes some decent-size batteries,” Coates said, explaining that they’re larger than a typical AA battery.