Exploding e-cigarette could have killed my dogs and cats, terrified Atlanta woman says

Hotlanta indeed.

An Atlanta woman says she is lucky to be alive after an electronic cigarette she was charging in her computer's USB port exploded — and burned a hole in her rug.

"If I hadn't had been home, I would have lost my dogs, I would have lost my cats, I would have lost my house," Elizabeth Wilkowski told WSB-TV. "It was like, 'Kaboom!' And I see this flame shooting across my living room."

Wilkowski says she used a cleaning rag to grab the e-cigarette and extinguish the flame.

The store where she bought the device — a smoke-free cigarette that delivers a nicotine kick in a cool mist — said it no longer carries the eHit brand e-cigarette, which is made in China by Shenzhen Seego Technology.

According to the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association, there are more than 3.5 million e-cigarettes in use in the United States.

A spokesman for the association told the Daily Mail there have been just two reported fire incidents involving e-cigarettes since 2007.

In February, a 57-year-old Florida man suffered severe injuries when an e-cigarette blew up in his face. Fire officials say the explosion was caused by a faulty battery.