Re: A Little Accident. Enjoy.
I'm very sorry to hear about your very unfortunate accident. Luckily it's not worse. I'm glad to hear nobody was injured, and your house is mainly intact. Thank goodness something easily combustable wasn't near it and burning down your house.
This could have just as easily happened on an aircraft, or while a person was carrying it.
Welcome to the dangers of 123 Lithium cells. Some people demand NiMH due to the danger associated with Lithium.
Seems like a great reason for the public to start demanding protection circuitry in flashlights to prevent over discharge, requiring pressure vents built into the flashlight, flashlight makers to limit the rate of discharge, temperature shutdown/throttle back circuits, amongst a whole host of other things that could be done.
The PM6 is rather bright, so it would be obvious that it was left on, and as you said your wife turned it back on, it lit up, and off and put away, so rather likely it was not left on.
I've seen 0.062" thick sheet aluminum split open from Lithium cells exploding, it was even in an unsealed box, unfolding the box in the process, ripping the aluminum loose from eight screws, sending the cover into the sky, just like there was a stick of dynamite inside the box. Everything inside was black and somewhat charred, like it had been flamed.
Lithium Cells are something that should not be taken lightly. As they become more popular, events like this seem to be happening way too often.
Notice how the vent didn't work very well on one of the cells, and how the top case seal is rolled open, blasting it's contents out of the cell. Rather ***Violent***.
BTW, that piece of wrapper up in the top right corner with the red showing through it, sure looks like a <font color="red">
SureFire </font> cell wrapper...