False alarm: Smoker's aid behind UK bus incident

[longnecker]

LONDON (AP) — False alarm: British police said Thursday that reports of suspicious activity on a bus, which set off a massive emergency response and forced the closure of a section of a major highway in central England, were unfounded.
The "culprit"? An electronic cigarette.
Armed police evacuated passengers from the bus and bomb disposal units, ambulances and fire engines descended on the Weeford toll plaza of the M6 highway in the West Midlands, 116 miles (187 kilometers) north of London, after the initial reports Thursday.
The sweeping emergency response came just weeks before the July 27-Aug. 12 Olympics are due to be held in the British capital.
But several hours later, Staffordshire police said that the scene was safe and no suspects were in custody.
The force said it had received a "genuine report" from a member of the public about vapor escaping from a bag on the bus, which upon investigation turned out to be a an electronic cigarette — a device that aims to help smokers quit.
"We can now confirm that, whilst this was a genuine security alert, the significant concerns reported to us were unfounded," the force said.
It apologized for any inconvenience caused by the security response, saying it hopes people understand its duty to ensure public safety.
http://www.krqe.com/dpps/news/strang...12-jgr_4229555

[Bellicose]

Uh Chase, do those things regularly vap themselves???? Let alone, I thought they vap'ed and then the exhale pretty much disappeared, not looked like actual smoke lingering around.

[Chase]

no they don't vape themselves, but many do have a physical button you press to turn them on to take a vape though. that is probably what happened here. "pocket fires" or "hot pocket" as we call it is fairly common, if it was pushed up against something in the bag it could happen. most (not all) ecigs that are manual and have a button usually have a locking device to stop accidental button presses from happening, not all do though.

even still, some auto ecigs (no button, they turn on when you suck on them) usually have a vacuum switch but the cheaper ones use a noise switch of some sort that turns it on when it hears you suck (get your mind out the gutter) these kinds can be fired with loud outside noises.

depending on how much juice was in it when the button was hit, a lot of ecigs can make clouds of vapor (mine do)

another possibility is the person was using the ecig and used the bag as a stealth device, as in, exhaled into the bag to disperse/cover the vaper.....i have used my jacket or sleeve a few times to do this when somewhere i maybe shouldn't be vaping at.

[longnecker]

[QUOTE=Chase;

another possibility is the person was using the ecig and used the bag as a stealth device, as in, exhaled into the bag to disperse/cover the vaper.....i have used my jacket or sleeve a few times to do this when somewhere i maybe shouldn't be vaping at.[/QUOTE]
Chase..I'm confused I thought they were legal anywhere. Could you touch on that a little more. Thanks.

[Chase]

they are legal pretty much everywhere. someplaces though don't like them, like airplanes, Phillies game in the stands, I guess maybe buses, etc. depends o how well you can argue I guess. itreally isn't smoke.