Mum’s warning after vape ‘exploded’ in teen’s hand and destroyed her Wolverhampton home – Birmingham Live

A woman has warned of the dangers of vaping after a device exploded in her home and destroyed the first floor of the property.

Susan, 34, from Wolverhampton, said the machine had exploded in her daughter's boyfriends' hands after he put the battery in and then set fire to a bed headboard.

The family - including her two younger daughters aged 10 and three - are now facing homelessness and have lost all of their clothes in the blaze.

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Pictures of the upstairs of the property show blackened shells of rooms after the fire on Sunday, January 23.

Luckily, Susan's 16-year-old daughter and her boyfriend, 15 - who she said were still "distressed" by the event - were physically unharmed.

But the mum-of-three is now warning of the dangers posed by vaping pens - something she didn't realise was so easily accessed by children.

"I don't agree with children being able to access vapes so wouldn't have thought it would be in my house," she said.

"It is dangerous and I don't think people know that this can happen. The fire brigade said that the battery was not compatible which caused the fire.

"Imagine if it happened at night - it could have been so much worse. It is meant to be safer than smoking but can be so dangerous if it can explode like that."

Susan said she was glad she had taken her younger daughters to work with her, delivering parcels for Hermes.

She added: "I was at work delivering and I had a phone call off my neighbour saying that the house was on fire.

"I frantically tried to return as quickly as possible and I turned up and saw the fire brigade there and saw that my daughter was being attended to by the ambulance crew.

"The firefighter told me what happened. My daughter and her boyfriend were in the bedroom. He vapes and was trying to set up a vape pen and put the battery in and it exploded in his hand.

"He threw it and it went on to the head of the bed and it engulfed from there. They are 15 and 16 so are still children and didn't know what to do.

"I might have tried to grab it and get it out of the window but they went downstairs for water and then realised that they couldn't get back up.

"They were extremely distressed which is just heartbreaking - they are still suffering. It's emotional damage now with them - my daughter is having nightmares."

The family are currently staying in a bed and breakfast which. is being provided by her landlord's insurance company.

But Susan said they are struggling to find new rental accommodation as they have two dogs, who were saved from the fire by Susan's daughter's boyfriend.

"It was an accident and even though it was my daughter's boyfriend's device that caused the fire, we don't blame him at all, she said.

"His family are trying to help which we really appreciate.

"Our landlord says we can come back when the repairs are done but we might be in another contract when it's done. He's a fantastic guy and has been really helpful."

Susan, who has set up a GoFundMe page to raise donations towards the family rebuilding their lives., said she was grateful for the immense support shown by the community so far.

She said: "I've never asked anyone for anything and find it difficult to reach out but have accepted that I need help. There aren't words to express how grateful we are to everyone who has tried to help us.

"The British Red Cross have helped us too and have been amazing.

"The local community have been so kind and have really come together to help us in any way they can."

Tettenhall fire tweeted after the incident: "Purple Watch attended a bedroom fire in Codsall this morning which was caused by using an incompatible battery for a vape.

"Fire was extinguished but caused substantial damage to the rest of the house. Please be cautious when charging electrical products."

You can view the GoFundMe page here.

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Mum's warning after vape 'exploded' in teen's hand and destroyed her Wolverhampton home - Birmingham Live