Share This Story!Let friends in your social network know what you are reading aboutTwitterGoogle+LinkedInPinterestPosted!A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.Log InSubscribed, but don't have a login?Register your digital access.Hailey Boyce was chatting and relaxing with friends on the front porch of a friend's Maricopa home when she leaned in, ignited her electronic-cigarette device and inhaled.Then the 17-year-old fired up the device for another hit."Itexploded like a rocket," Boyce recalls of the accident on Mother's Day."I was with my friend.He told me I was on fire.vaping device had exploded.Part of the device launched to a driveway three houses away.The battery that powered the device fell toward Boyce, igniting her clothes, blackening her tank top and searing her hand and parts of her upper body.Boyce would spend about three weeks at Maricopa Medical Center's Arizona Burn Center, undergoing three surgeries and skin grafts.Officials at the Arizona Burn Center say such accidents occur regularly with one dozen patients reporting burns from e-cigarettes fires or explosions over the past three months.

The burn center recently began monitoring these cases with plans to to document the phenomenon in a medical journal.Some explosions cause extensive burns that require multiple skin grafts.Many others suffer minor injuries and are quickly discharged from the hospital.“They are coming in so fast and furious,” said Dr. Kevin Foster, Arizona Burn Center’s chief of burn services."We are trying to keep track of all of them."Fostersaid some explosions have occurred when users were in the process of igniting the device.Others received severe burns when the device's battery exploded in their pants' pocket.One man in his 20s was left with severe second-degree burns when the device caught fire in his pockets.While there are no studies on how frequently the accidents occur, the U.S.Fire Administration released a report in October 2014 that documented 25 cases of an exploding e-cigarette that occurred over a five-year period.The fire administration's report was based on anecdotal media reports gathered from local fire department responses and not meant to be comprehensive.

The federal agency has since created a incident code that local fire departments are encouraged to use to track how frequently these e-cigarette explosions occur, according to Larry McKenna, a fire protection engineer with the fire administration.While such explosions are seemingly rare among the more than 2.5 million Americans who vape, the report said the shape and construction of e-cigarette devices can propel them like "flaming rockets" if the device's lithium-ion battery malfunctions or overheats.The fire administration said the most common explosions occurred while the batteries were charging.Lithium-ion battery explosions can occur when the battery's internal pressure builds and breaks through the battery's seal.These small batteries have caused fires in consumer products such as cellphones and laptop computers, but those industries have made design changes to reduce fire risk, McKenna said.The fire administration's report said that batteries in laptop computers and other portable devices include strong plastic cases that work to contain the fire and prevent the rocket-like effect that can occur with vaping devices.McKenna said said higher-end batteries can include a circuit board that shuts down an overheating battery.

Charging devices, too, include protective designs that limit chances of fires or explosions.McKenna said he has communicated with tobacco companies that also have vaping brands, and he said these larger companies are aware of this and have taken steps to address the problem.e cigarette 722However, he said the vaping industry also include manufacturers abroad and "do-it-your-selfers" that may not meet safety standards.The Food and Drug Administration this year moved toward regulating e-cigarettes like traditional tobacco products, and those proposed regulations would include new standards for manufacturers, including battery safety.Yet some critics say the FDA's regulations put a freeze on existing efforts to upgrade defective batteries.Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, said that consumers need to be educated to not swap out batteries that come in damaged wrapping.e cigarette anzin

People also can injured themselves if they put a spare battery in their pocket, he said."Batterye cigarette advertising banincidents are almost completely avoidable," Conley said.e cigarette avenue louise"These incidents should not be used to scare away people who switch to these products to try to quit tobacco."Thee cigarette arundel millsArizona Burn Center's Foster said the public should be aware that these battery-powered devices can explode.""Thee cigarette available in chennaifact that these devices can be made so poorly, and we are seeing injuries that can be really, really severe," Foster said.

"If it blows up in your hand or your face, that's a big deal."Boycesaid her injuries require constant attention.She needs to do exercises to strengthen and stretch her skin, and she applies cocoa butter to moisturize her skin several times each day.Boyce said she purchased her vaping device from an online retailer about seven months ago.She enjoyed the flavor and smell and socializing with friends.She said she has "mixed feelings" about the safety of the devices.She does not think there is anything the could have done to prevent her accident, but she also said her device likely exploded due to a problem with the battery casing.Now, she is more cautious around friends who are vaping, particularly when they fire up their devices."Everytime I am around a friend (who is vaping), it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up."Nunica, Mich.-based Victory Electronic Cigarettes has grown through acquisition and now plans to raise $149.5 million in a public sale of stock.Chances are good that by this time next year you will have firsthand contact with someone who vapes — uses an electronic inhaler that simulates the act of smoking.

And when you observe the thick cloud of vapor emanating from that person's mouth instead of smoke, you may be witnessing the biggest single play in consumable products that some industry executives say is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."In my career, there has not been a sector that has so much potential and is so untapped in terms of value and global reach," said Jim McCormick, CFO of Victory Electronic Cigarettes Corp.(OTCQB: ECIG), a West Michigan company that aims to be the nation's largest independent producer of vaping products.ISTOCK PHOTO Retail sales of e-cigarettes reached about $3.5 billion worldwide last year — barely a puff of the total $756 billion market still dominated by tobacco.Daniel Lawitzke, a Grand Rapids entrepreneur who pioneered the retail market in vaping liquids and devices in West Michigan, likens it to the rush to the marketplace by dietary supplements in the 1990s, when "antioxidants" became a household word — followed by the need for the U.S.Food and Drug Administration to step in with regulations.

Instead of smoking "analog" cigarettes that contain hundreds of chemicals resulting from the combustion of tobacco, people are inhaling a vapor of vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol, flavorings and nicotine.To produce the vapor as they inhale, users activate a device that generally has a battery-powered heating element surrounding a wick saturated with the e-liquid.Lawitzke, who launched Mister-E-Liquid LLC in the summer of 2010 after he was able to quit smoking through vaping, now employs 43 full- and part-time people at a 16,000-square-foot laboratory and two retail outlets in Grand Rapids, with plans to open a third store in Lansing this month.Brick-and-mortar outlets such as Lawitzke's that are springing up throughout Michigan are only a wisp of the industry's vapor cloud.More than a thousand businesses worldwide hope to strike it rich as suppliers to people who vape, ranging from gargantuan corporations such as Altria Group Inc.to tiny operations with whimsical names such as Planet of the Vapes that sell e-liquids online.

Some mom-and-pop operations literally whip up their e-liquid formulas in kitchens, garages and basements.Wild Bill's Tobacco, a Clawson-based owner of 21 tobacco specialty stores and franchiser or business partner in an additional 29 such stores throughout Michigan, is shifting gears to capture market share in vaping.The company, founded in 1994 as the Smoker's Outlet, has launched two stores called Mr.Vapor that cater specifically to the vaping consumer, said Wild Bill's chief marketing officer, Justin Samona.Over the next year, Wild Bill's hopes to open 10 additional Mr.Vapor stores, mostly in the Detroit area.In addition, all Wild Bill's stores now have Mr.Vapor sections, which offer a variety of products and "gourmet juice bars" that allow store personnel to mix customized e-liquid blends for customers."Every day, customers are switching over from tobacco cigarettes to electronic cigarettes because they see it as a healthier alternative — also a cheaper and cleaner alternative," Samona said.

"Instead of having to go outside to smoke a cigarette — especially when it is cold — it is something they can do inside their homes and maybe even their workplaces."Justin Samona One website lists more than 180 retail outlets in metro Detroit as selling vaping products.Samona said his company is slowing down expansion of the Wild Bill's concept and focusing more on Mr.Vapor, a move that also serves to protect existing Wild Bill's locations from losing customers to other vape shops.Vapor shop may carry three times the selection of e-cigarettes, disposables, starter kits and e-liquids that a Wild Bill's carries, he said.The company employs about 120 people throughout its chain of stores and at its 15,000-square-foot distribution center in Clawson.Other companies such as LorAnn Oils Inc.in Lansing are being swept up unintentionally by the vaping revolution.LorAnn, established in 1962, is an old-line manufacturer and distributor of flavorings and essential oils used by home crafters and professionals who make candy, baked goods, frozen desserts and soaps.

But several vaping websites recommend LorAnn Oils flavorings for e-liquids, even offering a color-coded list of those best for inhalation."We are in a bit of a quandary," said John Grettenberger Jr., grandson of LorAnn Oils founder O.K."Our flavoring products are FDA-approved for ingestion, and no one knows the result of them being used for inhalation.We would never suggest that our products be used this way, and we wouldn't even think about going after this market."Speedis of the essence JON BROUWER Brent Willis, president of Victory Electronic Cigarettes, has big ambitions — more than $200 million in revenue by year's end — for a company that currently operates out of space it shares with a woodworking business.Victory Electronic Cigarettes has embarked on a go-big-or-go-home strategy that its president, Brent Willis, likens to a military campaign.The West Point graduate even invokes the name of the legendary war strategist Carl von Clausewitz when he talks about growing share in the vaping market.

"In his study of war, Clausewitz talked about the ability of maneuver — for us, that means speed, moving faster than the competition," Willis said."You have to do the right thing — and you have to do the right thing at the right time."Doing the right thing at the right time has placed Victory Electronic on a tear when it comes to acquiring other businesses.It has concluded three acquisitions of companies this year, and Willis said the company has agreed on terms to purchase seven more companies or distribution platforms in 2014 to further consolidate its sales and distribution channels.Last month, Victory Electronic filed its federal S-1 registration for the public sale of stock to raise up to $149.5 million."So we have gone from zero in mid-2013 to about $75 million in revenues on a pro forma basis, and we expect to be well over $200 million in revenues by the end of this year," Willis said in an interview before the company filed its S-1 registration.Pro forma statements filed in the S-1 showed a net loss from operations of about $12.7 million.

The company intends to change its name to Electronic Cigarettes International Group Ltd.to match its ticker symbol, but the new moniker also reflects its worldwide sales strategy.Victory Electronic purchased Atlanta-based FIN Electronic Cigarette Corp.in February, United Kingdom-based Vapestick Holdings Ltd.in January and Must Have Limited in April.Willis intends to put his international experience as a former executive for the Coca Cola Co., Kraft Foods Inc., Cott Corp.and InBev to work opening the international markets for Victory Electronic Cigarettes.Big plans from a small spaceTo say that Victory Electronic is flying below the radar is an understatement: The company shares space with a woodworking business owned by Willis' father-in-law in rural Nunica, about 26 miles east of Grand Rapids.A towering grain elevator and parked semis of a nearby business overshadow the parking lot of Versatile Wood Solutions, a manufacturer of store displays and architectural millwork.No sign marks the fact that Victory Electronic Cigarettes is operating in about 3,000 square feet at the plant.

"Every penny counts," Willis said with a grin when asked about the humble surroundings that serve as the nerve center for Victory Electronic.The company employs more than 100 people locally and at offices and distribution centers in Atlanta and the United Kingdom.What is quickly thinning the crowd among vaping competitors is access to distribution through convenience stores and mass merchandisers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc.and Rite Aid Corp., which serve a majority of the 1.3 billion people who the American Cancer Society estimates smoke worldwide."Retailers are already making (vaping) space for the big tobacco guys — Lorillard, Reynolds and Altria," Willis said."But the big tobacco companies have some real weaknesses that we can exploit."Brand, price and flavor selection aren't the biggest factors when it comes to consumers making purchasing decisions at this point, he said."Right now, 65 percent of all brand choice today is made on what's there, what's available, what's on display," Willis said.

With the recent acquisitions, Victory Electronic sells its products through more than 50,000 retail outlets in the United States and Europe, which together make up an estimated 70 percent of e-cigarette sales worldwide, according to estimates from Euromonitor International, a London-based provider of global business intelligence.Euromonitor estimated that retail sales of e-cigarettes reached about $3.5 billion worldwide last year, less than one-half percent of the total $756 billion retail tobacco market globally.Sales of e-cigarettes grew more than 180 percent in the United States in 2013 from the prior year, the firm said, and the sector is expected to continue to take more market share from combustible cigarettes.Willis and McCormick hope to capture more shelf space by cutting lucrative deals with distributors and retailers that large tobacco companies will find hard to match.Tobacco companies typically offer distributors a 3 percent markup off of cost, while Victory Electronic Cigarettes can offer up to 25 percent markup off of cost, Willis said.

"That changes the economics for distributors in a very significant way," he said."We offer 30-day payment terms to distributors, and the tobacco companies offer net minus five — you pay for your product on Monday and you receive it on Friday."We also offer very favorable profit margins for retailers like Meijer.The tobacco companies are at about 8 percent, while we can offer profit margins up to 50 percent."In a study of 25 state laws that set minimum prices for cigarette wholesaling and retailing operations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta found in 2010 that the median wholesale markup was 4 percent and the median retail markup 8 percent.With such high stakes, the world's largest tobacco companies have acquired or launched e-cigarette brands themselves.Since buying Blu Ecigs in 2012, Lorillard has built Blu into a leading e-cigarette brand with heavy promotion that tapped celebrity Jenny McCarthy.launched its own Vuse brand in July last year, and Altria Group introduced its MarkTen brand in August.Blueberry?

COURTESY OF WILL BILL'S TOBACCO Clawson-based Wild Bill's Tobacco has added in all its stores Mr.Vapor sections, which offer products and "gourmet juice bars" that let store personnel mix e-liquid blends for customers.Aside from elbowing for space on cigarette shelves, companies that make vaping products also are struggling to understand what their customers want.A bewildering array of delivery devices have flooded the market — such as — "cig-a-likes" that are the size and shape of ordinary cigarettes with rechargeable batteries, refillable atomizers about the size of a cigar and hundreds of formulas of e-liquids that are flavored to simulate blueberries, chocolate or even cotton candy."We don't know how the product is going to evolve — e-liquids, vaporizers, disposables, rechargeables," Willis said."Anyone who says they know exactly where the market is headed is lying.So do it all.... Take the best ideas and bring them to market very quickly."For example, Victory Electronic is introducing at Walgreen Co.

stores this month a disposable clearomiser system discovered in Europe that lets customers see the level of e-liquids left in the unit.Lawitzke of Mister-E-Liquid has built a business on anticipating the market with a variety of ready-to-use, refillable and disposable delivery systems along with separate components such as batteries, coils and tips so customers can assemble their own personal vaping equipment.More than half of Mister-E-Liquid's revenue comes from wholesale and retail sales of more than 100 flavors of custom-mixed e-liquids, which range from Gran-E's Apple Pie to Maniac Mint Chocolate.The company sells products in 47 countries and supplies liquids to more than 300 vape shops nationally.Instead of competition, Lawitzke views companies such as Victory Electronic and Blu as portals for smokers-turned-vapers to find his business online."They think that people want a device that looks like a cigarette, but what we've learned is that people who are vaping really don't want to be associated with smokers," he said.

Soon after they try e-cigarettes, people often search out delivery devices that are higher-powered and refillable, Lawitzke said."When they get them home and see $20 for a five-pack of cartridges, their first instinct is to say: 'I'm going to search Google and find them cheaper.And that's where we come in.'" Another misconception is that adults don't like a variety of flavors."The majority of our client base started with tobacco-flavored e-liquid, and they wanted it to taste like a cigarette when they first started," Lawitzke said."What we found is after a month or so, our customers don't want to taste tobacco anymore — it's gross."After their taste buds regain their sense of taste, tobacco doesn't taste as good as strawberries or blueberries.The thing that gets people off analog cigarettes in the long term is the flavoring — the fact that you can taste apple pie if you want to taste apple pie."Willis and Lawitzke were adamant about enforcing age restrictions on the sale of their products and the need for FDA regulations.

In April, the federal agency proposed rules that would require vaping product companies to register, list ingredients in e-liquids and impose minimum age and identification restrictions to prevent sales to those under age 18.At the end of a 75-day public comment period, the agency will enact the rules that it deems necessary.In the manufacture of e-liquids, "people are just picking up what looks good, and they are mixing it in their kitchens or, God forbid, their garages or bathrooms," Lawitzke said."That's part of the problem.Mister-E-Liquid purchases its base materials, flavorings and nicotine from suppliers that document the concentrations and purity of their products and mixes the ingredients in its ISO-certified Class 6 clean room in Grand Rapids.The company, a founding member of the American E-Liquid Manufacturing Standards Association, does regular testing of final product, Lawitzke said.Willis said Victory Electronic Cigarettes imports its products from China, but it has plans to move manufacturing to the United States during the next year.