E-bike batteries blamed for 22 NYC fires, 2 deaths this year

NEW YORK — Lithium ion batteries used to energy electrical bicycles and scooters have already sparked 22 fires that induced 36 accidents and two deaths in New York Metropolis this yr, 4 instances the variety of fires linked to the batteries by this time final yr, officers stated Friday.

Hearth Commissioner Laura Kavanagh stated Mayor Eric Adams’ administration is “coming at this drawback from each single angle,” together with working with the Metropolis Council and the federal Shopper Product Security Fee on further laws for the batteries and educating the general public on their correct use and storage.

“These are extremely harmful gadgets, and we should be sure that members of the group are dealing with them correctly and utilizing them safely,” Kavanagh stated at a briefing on public security.

Lots of the fires blamed on the batteries have been brought on by malfunctioning gadgets left to cost in a single day and positioned in a hallway or close to a door the place they will entice individuals inside a burning condominium.

Three youngsters and an grownup had been injured this month when a charging battery began a fireplace of their higher Manhattan condominium at 1:30 a.m., officers stated.

Hearth Division Chief of Operations John Esposito stated after the Feb. 5 blaze that when the battery overheated and sparked a fireplace, “it blocked the egress out of the condominium, trapping the household.”

Kavanagh stated the e-bike batteries “current usually a direct incapacity to exit one’s room or one’s condominium or one’s dwelling. So it’s actually important that we work with all our companions up right here in authorities round enforcement, round schooling, round combating the hazards that these current to residents and first responders.”