Father reveals how he felt someone was ‘blow torching’ his face after he became a human fireball when his e-cigarette exploded while it was charging overnight

A father-of-two has described how his face was engulfed by flames when his e-cigarette battery exploded just inches from his bed while he slept.
Kevin Woodward, 30, said he was woken by a searing pain that felt like ‘a blow torch’ being held against his skin after the Chinese-manufactured Eleaf iStick set on fire while charging overnight.

Despite the pain, Mr Woodward was able to act quickly and smother the blaze with a pillow before escaping the family home in Northwich, Cheshire, with his fiancee and their two young children.

He was taken to Whiston Hospital, in Prescot, Merseyside, where he is being treated for burns to his arms, hands and face.

Scrapyard worker Mr Woodward said he put the e-cigarette, which he took up to improve his health a year ago, on charge at around 11pm.

He was woken up at around 2.30am because his three-year-old son, Taylor James, who was in bed with them, got up to return to his own room. Mr Woodward believes the move saved his son’s life.

Hours later, Mr Woodward said he woke up to find the right-hand side of his face on fire.

‘It felt like someone was using a blowtorch on me,’ he said. ‘I didn’t have a clue what was happening.

‘It was like a horror movie. When I realised what was happening I managed to slam a pillow on top of the fire, opened the windows and got the kids out of the house.’