In less than two years, 11 people perished and 251 were injured in NYC fires sparked by lithium-ion batteries used to power e-bikes and e-scooters, the FDNY said.
In 2021, four persons died and 79 were injured in 104 lithium-ion battery fueled blazes in homes, fire officials said. Last year, those numbers took a concerning climb: six people were killed and 142 hurt in 220 battery-related fires.
Lithium ion batteries were the cause of the fourth most fire deaths last year, the FDNY said, behind electrical, portable heaters and smoking.
In the first month of 2023, there have been 1,563 structural fires in the city – and 15 of them are being probed as lithium-ion battery related, with one reported death and 25 injured, fire officials said.
On Jan. 20, Modesto Collado, 63, was killed and 10 others hurt after a charging e-bike battery fueled a fast-moving fire that tore through a home in East Elmhurst, Queens.
Building resident Jose Corona admitted he unplugged his charging scooter on the first floor of the building, went to the second floor to eat breakfast and then heard an “explosion, boom boom.”
A charging lithium ion battery that overheated nearly proved fatal again last Sunday in Inwood. Three children were injured – two critically – when an e-bike battery in their Upper Manhattan apartment caught fire, trapping them in the flames, the FDNY said.
“The family in the apartment was sleeping,” FDNY Chief of Operations John Esposito said, adding the bike was not attached to the battery at the time.
In August, an East Harlem blaze — sparked by lithium-ion batteries on an e-scooter or e-bike — killed a 5-year-old girl and her father’s girlfriend – as well as three dogs, fire officials said. The little girl, her 46-year-old dad and his 36-year-old girlfriend Chakaina Anderson became trapped inside a sixth-floor apartment of the eight-story building within NYCHA’s Jackie Robinson Houses during the early morning fire.
A month later, 8-year-old Stephanie Villa Torres was killed in Queens in a fire sparked by a lithium battery from her sibling’s new electric scooter. “Those batteries, they gotta do something about those batteries because it’s too many lives they are losing,” lamented a neighbor.
To that end, Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens) has introduced legislation that would ban electric scooters and electric bikes until there are safeguards in place.
“The recent rise in incidents involving lithium-ion battery fires and resulting injuries and fatalities highlights the urgent need for regulation and standards for e-bikes,” Holden told the Post this week. “Until we can ensure the safety of these vehicles, we must prohibit their use on public roads and prohibit charging them indoors. It’s time to take proactive measures to prevent further harm to our communities.”
E-bikes and other lithium-ion battery-powered mobility devices have become fashionable, but oblivious owners store and charge e-bike batteries in their apartment — often overnight — which “present serious fire safety hazards,” officials said.
City landlords are required to post an FDNY safety guide by April 30 warning apartment dwellers about fires caused by e-bike batteries.
