Lithium-ion batteries from e-bikes and similar devices have fueled 92 fires, injured 64 people, and caused nine deaths so far this year – almost as many as the 10 fatalities in 2022 and 2021 combined, FDNY data show.
Four people perished last month, when a May 7 blaze tore through an Upper Manhattan apartment building.
In April, a 7-year-old and a teenager died in a Queens house fire sparked by the battery on an e-bike, officials said.
In that instance, people were forced to leap out of their windows to escape the inferno, which broke out inside the vestibule of the two-story building at 25-71 46th St. in Astoria and quickly spread up the stairs, 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.
Lithium-ion battery blazes also claimed one person in the Bronx and another in Brooklyn.
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.
Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens) has introduced legislation to ban electric scooters and bikes until safeguards are in place.
“The reckless rush to legalize e-mobility devices without regulation has unleashed a terrifying wave of fires, injuries, and tragic deaths,” Holden told The Post. “It’s heartbreaking to witness the consequences of the previous City Council’s ill-advised actions as these incidents become more and more common.”
Holden wants electric scooters and e-bikes to be “registered, licensed, inspected, and insured like any other motor vehicle. If we fail to take action, we’ll continue to witness the loss of precious lives.”
City landlords were required to post an FDNY safety guide by April 30 warning apartment dwellers about fires caused by e-bike batteries.
E-bikes should not be charged overnight or when residents are out, nor should they be stored near windows or exits, the FDNY has warned.
They should also have approved certification markings.
The owners of one luxe 44-story building on West 57th Street last week informed its tenants that “Effective immediately, electric micro-mobility devices, including but not limited to electric scooters, electric bicycles, personal e-mobility devices, light electrical vehicle applications, and any other devices with a lithium-ion battery, can no longer be stored in bike rooms.”
“It’s a smart move because these lithium-ion batteries are scary,” a building tenant told The Post. “If one explodes they can all go up in flames.”
