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Rechargeable battery catches fire in mans pocket

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Gwinnett County man is hospitalized in Grady Hospital's burn unit after a rechargeable battery caught fire in his pocket.

Mike Pierson, of Grayson, told Channel 2's consumer investigator Jim Strickland that he had bought extra batteries for his electronic cigarette.

The battery at issue wasn't even installed in the vapor device when it ignited.

"I had taken my battery off the charger and put it in my pocket.  I didn't think anything else about it," said Pierson during a bedside interview.

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"It erupted like a volcano or something.  It was just shooting sparks," he said of the incident which occurred before church Sunday morning.

Pierson is scheduled for surgery on his left leg Friday.

Pierson told Strickland that nothing else was in his pocket.

He does have his suspicions about what happened.

He discovered after the fact the batteries he purchased at a market in Alabama were counterfeits of the popular Ultrafire brand.

"At first glance you wouldn't notice the difference unless you really look close at it," he said.

The counterfeit battery sports a different font style and a misspelling.

"I'm angry.  Extremely angry," he said.