A woman’s vape pen reportedly exploded while she was inside the restroom at the Express Mart gas station and convenience store in Festus Tuesday morning, July 11. The explosion caused a lot of commotion at the business, 999 West Gannon Drive, but no property was damaged, and no one was injured, authorities reported.
Personnel from the Festus Fire and Police departments responded to a call about the incident around 10:20 a.m., Fire Chief Jeff Broombaugh said.
“A lady was in in a stall in the restroom and one of those vape pens exploded inside her purse,” he said. “There was damage to her purse and its contents, not to the store itself. It appears to be accidental.”
Broombaugh said the department quickly took care of the situation.
“We put out the fire in the purse and ventilated (smoke from) the structure,” he said. “We left about 10:42 a.m.
“(Employees) had self-evacuated the store before we got there. They returned to work when we left. They were only closed for about 20 minutes.”
Police Cpl. Ben Drummond said officers agreed that the incident was accidental.
“It was just a vape battery that started a little fire in her purse,” Drummond said.
Both Broombaugh and Drummond said they have heard of vape pens exploding in other places, but neither had previously responded to that kind of call.
Broombaugh said Joachim-Plattin Ambulance also responded to the scene, but its services were not needed.