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Security footage catches vape device exploding in New Jersey woman's purse

Posted at 6:21 PM, Sep 14, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-14 18:21:38-04

A New Jersey woman avoided injury over the weekend after the batter for her vaping device spontaneously exploded in her purse.

Mara McInerney was shopping at the Freehold Raceway Mall on Sunday when her Louis Vuitton handbag burst into flames.

McInerney later found a charred lithium battery to her vaping device in what used to be a pocket in her purse. She said there was no warning before her bag caught fire.

“My child could have been reaching for a piece of candy in my bag,” McInerney told WABC-TV.

This isn’t the first time vape pens or e-cigarettes have spontaneously combusted. In February, an e-cigarette exploded in a Kentucky man’s pocket, sending him to the hospital. A number of vapers filed lawsuits over the exploding batters in Bakersfield, California last November.

Watch security footage from the explosion below.

Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.