That vaping cartridge could burst into flames. It just happened in Meridian.
Be careful if you vape, because that e-cigarette cartridge may spontaneously combust, St. Luke’s Health System warned in a news release Thursday.
“A St. Luke’s security officer and an employee recently witnessed an incident firsthand when the employee’s purse burst into flames in a Meridian parking lot as she stood near her car,” St. Luke’s said. “The security officer jumped in to help the employee remove the purse from her shoulder, but the heat and flames were already melting her purse and jacket.”
The incident happened outside one of St. Luke’s medical office buildings in Meridian, according to the news release. The employee escaped injury, but she and the security officer were “rattled,” St. Luke’s said.
The Boise-based health system is now asking its employees and patients to be careful around e-cigarettes and vaping devices, the news release said.
This comes at a time when St. Luke’s security teams are “increasingly being asked to store various e-cigarettes and vape devices as patient valuables,” the release said.
Because of the fire risk posed by the e-cigarettes and vaping devices, patients are now being asked to leave those devices at home, or to send them home with friends or family members, St. Luke’s said.
The health system said its employee’s experience wasn’t an isolated incident, as there have been “numerous news accounts of fires starting from the batteries contained in these devices.”
St. Luke’s noted that Thursday is the Great American Smokeout, a day aimed at helping nicotine users quit their habit.
