Crime & Safety
E-Bike Battery Sparked Two-Alarm Bike Store Blaze In Astoria: FDNY
The fire marks the latest in a recent, citywide scourge of e-bike battery-sparked-blazes, some of which have been fatal.
ASTORIA, QUEENS — An e-bike battery sparked a two-alarm fire at an Astoria bike shop this week, the FDNY said, marking the latest in a citywide scourge of scooter-battery-blazes.
The fire raged for about a half-hour Monday afternoon at 5 Hermanos Bike Shop, prompting over 100 firefighters to rush to the building at 30th Avenue and 41st Street, fire officials said.
Once the smoke cleared, though, the owner of the shop confirmed with the FDNY that the blaze was started by a charging lithium ion e-bike battery.
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"[The owner] witnessed the charging battery fail," a fire department spokesperson told Patch in a written statement. Patch was unable to get in touch with anyone at the bike shop.
The fire is part of a troubling trend of e-bike-battery-sparked blazes — some fatal — in the city as of late, which officials have largely attributed to the growth of the restaurant delivery business and the sale of cheaper, poor-quality batteries.
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At least a dozen people have been injured in four blazes set off by lithium-ion batteries this year, according to the FDNY.
E-scooter batteries were also the cause of at least 75 fires, 60 injuries, and three fatalities last year.
"We want to really stress the seriousness of this situation," said FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro after a 9-year-old Queens boy died in a battery-sparked blaze last September.
The following month, after Fire Marshals determined that four fires in one week were caused by e-bike batteries, officials issued a warning to e-bike users, encouraging them to be careful when charging and storing the batteries.
"Lithium-ion batteries store a large amount of energy and can pose a threat if not treated properly," officials warned users, noting that the batteries are commonly used in cell phones, laptops, tablets, electric cars, and scooters.
At 5 Hermanos Bike Shop, though, no one was hurt in the blaze, according to the FDNY.
Related Article: Over 100 Firefighters Respond To Astoria Bike Store Blaze: FDNY
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