A pocket-sized fire sent a film-goer to Dunedin Hospital with serious injuries after a mishap with a vape battery.

Willowbank station Senior Station Officer Cam McLachlan said a crew was called to reports of an explosion and smoke in the foyer of Reading Cinema in the Octagon about 2.55pm yesterday.

When they arrived they found a man with a hand-sized burn on his legs after coins in his pocket interacted with a loose vaporiser battery.

St John paramedics work with firefighters to transport a seriously injured man from Dunedin’s Reading Cinema to Dunedin Hospital after an e-cigarette caused a fire in his pocket. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON

The coins caused the batteries to arc, which resulted in the fire.

SSO McLachlan said he had never seen an injury like it and said people should be cautious with all batteries, particularly lithium-ion ones as they held more energy than other types.

A St John spokeswoman said an ambulance took the man to Dunedin Hospital in a serious condition.

oscar.francis@odt.co.nz