The heroic acts of a passerby were about the only positive thing to come out of a vape store fire that took out a historic building in Glasgow.
What's happening?
BBC Scotland reported on the story of Lamin Kongira, whose quick thinking as a fire took hold was captured in a video shared on the STV News (@stvnews) Instagram account.
Kongira was in the area when he heard the vape store's shopkeeper emerging on the street to report the blaze.
"I ran into the shop and I saw a small fire under the counter," he recalled.
The fire was concentrated in a filled charging system where the vape batteries had started a quickly-expanding fire. Kongira did his best to control the blaze. He retrieved a fire extinguisher from an adjacent Subway store and tried to put it out.
Unfortunately, a pair of explosions followed, and he had to change his plans from gaining control of the fire to protecting nearby pedestrians from further explosions. While he couldn't save the 19th Century building, which will be demolished by hand, Kongira's courageousness possibly saved lives.
"What was going through my head was the survival of people," he reflected. "Seeing the fire in its small form and now it has consumed the whole city, it is horrible."
Why is the Glasgow vape fire important?
The vape fire served as a sober reminder of an additional peril of vaping products. In this case, it took out a landmark building all from a small group of batteries.
While vapes draw a lot of attention for their improper disposal into the environment, including in Glasgow, their potential to cause fires deserves just as much awareness. Their lithium-ion batteries can be very dangerous in landfills and when otherwise handled improperly.
These concerns don't even get into vaping's other troubling aspects, like hooking youths on nicotine and setting the table for other health conditions like diabetes.
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Save $1,000 this year 💸 What's being done about vaping globally?
Many areas around the world are implementing at least partial vape bans, including cities like Denver and countries like Mexico. Volunteers and local officials are doing their best to clean up vape litter in cities and neighborhoods, but given vaping's popularity, that's an uphill fight.
When it comes to the danger of fires, proper disposal and handling are a must to prevent future occurrences like the tragic one in Glasgow.
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