Can E-Cigarettes Be as Much of a Fire Risk as Normal Cigarettes?

E-Cigarettes are becoming more and more commonplace in recent times, with many people converting to their usage from normal cigarettes thanks to their lack of tobacco and variety of flavours.

While they don’t use flames and searing temperatures like cigarettes do, they have still been identified as a major fire risk if they are not used sensibly.

Data gathered from fire services around the country show that since 2012, they have been called out to 113 fire emergencies that have been related to e-cigarettes. Sales figures for e-cigarettes were as little as 50,000 in 2008, but a huge upturn in popularity saw over 3.5 million sold in 2012. As there are now over 2 million e-cigarette users in Britain, e-cigarettes are now a considerable fire safety risk – there were only eight fire incidents related to them in 2012, increasing to 43 in 2013 and 62 as of November 2014.

Overheating

A reason for the fires concerning e-cigarettes is the potential use of incompatible chargers. These charging issues can result in batteries exploding or the e-cigarette overheating, which can immediately cause a fire or combine with other elements in a room to create a fire risk. The wrong charger was often the culprit, and some e-cigarettes were plugged into DVD players and computers to charge, which often caused them to overheat.

Explosion

A woman in Cheshire and her family were fortunate to escape injury when her e-cigarette exploded as she left it to charge overnight. The e-cigarette exploded and filled her property with smoke, as well as causing damage to the carpet in her bedroom. Consumers often buy aftermarket charges as they are cheaper than branded ones, but the branded chargers are specifically designed to be used with certain devices, and as such the risk of fire is less than if you were to use an unbranded charger. Just as smoking in bed is an incredibly dangerous thing to do, leaving your charger on as you sleep or when you are away from the house should be totally avoided.

With the different varieties of e-cigarette available and more and more vendors entering the market, it can be difficult to know which sellers you should trust. Make sure you buy your e-cigarette and components from trusted sellers, rather than settling for a cheaper option. Although cheaper chargers and e-cigarettes may save you money, they could cost you a lot more if they malfunction.

Here at City Fire Protection, we place fire safety in any building as our number one priority, which is why we offer a wide array of fire safety equipment and services to all of our customers. From state of the art equipment to comprehensive fire safety training, everything is provided to the highest standard. Get in touch with us today to find out more.