A south Fulton County man was in the hospital Tuesday with serious burns from exploded e-cigarette batteries, family members told Channel 2 Action News.

Kyle Petty’s wife, Melody, said her husband was looking at his phone when the batteries in his pocket exploded without warning.

“He was not even smoking it,” Petty said. “There was no warning. There was nothing getting hot in his pocket.”

She went on, saying nothing at all alerted her husband to the danger.

“Nothing gave him the sense that something was wrong,” she said. “It just exploded. It was like fireworks going off in his pants.”

When she heard her husband scream for help, she thought he was going to die, she told Channel 2.

“When I got to him, he was black, covered in black soot. His hands, his pants leg had been blown off. His leg up from his groin, down to his knee was black and his skin had been pulled back.”

Kyle Petty was being treated for second-and third-degree burns.

Family members and fire officials want others to know that this type of explosion can happen, even though they have not figured out how it’s possible, according to Channel 2.

Chattahoochee Hills fire officials told the television station the vapor batteries were only five and a half months old.

Channel 2 reached out to the Efest battery manufacturer, located in China, but has not received any comment from them about the complaint.

About the Author

Keep Reading

DeKalb County firefighter Preston Fant, 53, died while battling a commercial structure fire Sep. 8, officials said. (DeKalb County Fire Department)

Credit: DeKalb County Fire Department

Featured

Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

Credit: NYT