Trousers on fire from lithium

ABC News reported on an Australian gentleman who’s vape battery resulted in the combustion of his trousers: The Northern NSW Local Health District (LHD) has confirmed a 56-year-old Brisbane man went to Byron Central Hospital at 3:15pm on Saturday. It is understood he told the hospital he had coins in his pocket, along with a vape containing a lithium-ion battery. According to FRNSW data, there have been 38 battery-related incidents categorised as involving “small portable devices” so far this year. I’ve been getting stuck into Massive Attack’s 1991 album Blue Lines recently, and this sounds like a cover band. Unfinished Symphony, covered by Combusted Trousers. Now! Leaving aside how anyone could possibly trust vapes in the first place, it does speak to a broader concern I have about the proliferation of these batteries. I don’t vape, but I have a phone. Worse, I have two phones. And yes, coins in the same pocket sometimes! They have King Charles on them too, which given his current…