Based on your description of the hissing sound the battery could have been punctured somehow. I say this because I accidently *****ed one on the bench with an exacto blade tip and it proceeded to hiss and vent and catch fire exactly as you described. Perhaps the battery was up against something that either puctured or wore a hole in the casing.
Sorry about your loss, it sucks to lose one like that.
Ok, apparently the word used to describe what you do with a needle against your fingertip to draw blood is VERBOTEN (German for forbidden). You gotta be kidding me...
Last edited by Growler84; 06-02-2014 at 10:52 AM.