A 3-alarm fireplace in decrease Manhattan killed 4 folks and left two others in vital situation within the early hours of Tuesday morning. Lithium-ion e-bike batteries are responsible, in line with the New York Metropolis Hearth Division. The blaze, which started in an e-bike store on the primary ground of a multi-story, mixed-use constructing within the Two Bridges neighborhood, ignited due to a battery, in line with Hearth Commissioner Laura Kavanagh.
“It is rather clear that this was brought on by lithium-ion batteries and e-bikes,” she stated throughout a press briefing. “There was a really giant variety of each batteries and e-bikes. This location is understood to the hearth division…it is rather, essential we get the work out how extremely harmful that is.” Whereas the town official spoke noon Tuesday, a pile of charred e-bikes and electrical scooters sat within the background— heaped beneath the yellow awning of the burned storefront.
Calls about smoke and fireplace on the 80 Madison Avenue location got here in shortly after midnight, Kavanagh famous. Although firefighters and different emergency personnel received to the location shortly and had been in a position to rescue some, the circumstances of the burn made issues troublesome. The “sheer quantity of fireside” created by e-bike batteries is “extremely harmful” and might make it “almost not possible to get out in time,” for folks caught inside a burning constructing, the commissioner defined.
“This actual state of affairs the place there’s an e-bike retailer on the primary ground and residences above, with the quantity of fireside created by these lithium-ion batteries, is extremely lethal,” the FDNY official emphasised.
When lithium-ion batteries catch fireplace, it’s explosive—not smoldering. Plenty of flames can erupt in a short time, as demonstrated in a cautionary video that FNDY posted on Twitter Tuesday morning. The footage reveals quite a few battery explosions in fast succession.
Tuesday’s lethal fireplace is way from the primary such battery-related incident in NYC. Up to now in 2023, the blaze was the 108th lithium-ion battery-caused fireplace within the metropolis. Together with the 4 killed in the present day, there have been 13 fatalities associated to battery explosions this 12 months, Kavanagh informed reporters. She famous these numbers had been considerably larger than these from 2022, by this identical time. In April, one baby and one teenager had been killed in a separate e-bike incident in Queens.
Elsewhere, e-bike and electrical scooter fires have additionally brought on harm and dying. Practically 200 accidents resulted from such combustions in the UK between 2020 and Could 2023, in line with a report from The Guardian. Lyft took 1,000 of its e-bikes off San Fransisco streets after battery fires in 2019. Hoverboards, too, have develop into recognized for the hearth hazard they pose. Nationwide, battery-powered micromobility gadgets caught fireplace greater than 200 instances between January 2021 and November 2022, in line with studies obtained by the Client Product Security Fee.
Many elements can contribute to lithium-ion gadgets going up in flames, together with producer defects and improper charging and storage practices. The FDNY advises that folks ought to solely ever buy gadgets which were security examined (indicated by the Underwriters Laboratories Mark), ought to carefully observe producer guidances on charging and storage, hold gadgets at room temperature, not cost gadgets on mushy surfaces, and hold batteries away from something flammable.
Nonetheless, the residents residing above the e-bike store at 80 Madison Avenue had little to no say in how the batteries had been being dealt with of their constructing. The e-bike store remained open and operational regardless of complaints and failing fireplace inspections at the very least two instances earlier than, in line with Dan Flynn, FDNY chief fireplace marshal. In August 2022, the shop was as soon as once more discovered to be in violation of the hearth code, and fined $1,600. Violations included improper e-bike charging practices, the sheer variety of e-bikes on the premises, and points with the constructing’s electrical wiring.
Requested by a reporter why the store hadn’t been shut down, Flynn responded, “there’s a course of in place.” He additionally referenced forthcoming coverage modifications from the NYC Metropolis Council and the mayor’s workplace that might enhance the enforcement of battery insurance policies.
Hearth division officers inspired New Yorkers to report regarding e-bike retailers to the town’s 311 system. As well as, Kavanagh urged metropolis residents to verify they know the way to safely escape their flats within the occasion of a hearth and to verify their smoke detectors—regardless of having warned that early detection programs typically aren’t sufficient within the face of battery explosions.
