Our personal injury posts often focus on trauma injuries, such as those that would occur in a car accident. While broken bones and soft tissue damage can be devastating, there is another type of injury that is too often overlooked: burns. Regardless of their source, burns are among the most painful injuries an accident victim may suffer. After the fact, burn injuries also tend to be slow to heal and are prone to other health risks such as infection.
Unfortunately, burn injuries are associated with a number of different accident scenarios, including car crashes, house fires and injuries caused by defective products. As an example of the latter, a Kentucky man was burned late last month after an e-cigarette exploded in his pocket. The incident was captured on video at a gas station in Owensboro.
E-cigarettes are now a very popular alternative to traditional smoking tobacco. Instead of smoke, these small electronic devices emit water vapor that can include additives like flavoring and nicotine. Although they are supposedly less hazardous to health than smoking, there have been a number of incidents in recent years in which the devices suddenly exploded and combusted.
In the video, the man is seen standing near the checkout counter. Suddenly, a ball of flame erupts from his pant leg near the knee. Acting quickly, the man runs from the store and tries to beat the fire out before changing strategies and removing his pants. A clerk at the gas station grabbed a fire extinguisher and was able to douse the flames. But the man was nonetheless treated at the hospital for second-degree burns.
This was not an isolated incident. Although somewhat rare, other e-cigarette explosions have occurred - often while the devices were being held near the user's face. Victims may suffer soft-tissue blast injuries in addition to burns.
If you or a loved one has been burned by a defective product or in an otherwise preventable accident, you may wish to speak to an experienced personal injury attorney about your rights and legal options.