I had a battery go bad in my inova X1, I was able to get it out , the light had some damage but baking soda cleaned most of it out and it is usable again. I have had alkalines go bad in things like remotes for TVs and things like that, In the case of my inova I know I used it one night and I must have left it on, the head was still tightened in the on position. I have found in most cases when these batteries go bad it is because the battery was being drained past the point of being dead.
In items with more than one battery it seems to happen even more because one battery can still have life in it while another is dead. rechargeables are a better choice but some things will not take them. When ever you use alkalines you should be very careful not to leave the device on by accident.