Damage Inside Apartment Revealed After Fire Caused by Electric Scooter Battery

Video shows damage left inside an apartment where a fire broke out Tuesday morning.

“I heard an explosion,” said neighbor Esther Rodríguez.

All of this happened around 5 a.m. in a seven-story building on Menahan Street in Bushwick.

Rodríguez lives on the second floor of the apartment next door. She showed us how the force of the explosion made cracks in her wall.

“When it exploded I shouted ‘over here’ to see if anyone was coming. They told me the police were coming,” Rodríguez said.

FDNY officials say the fire was caused by the lithium-ion battery of an electric scooter.

Three adults from the same apartment are now in critical but stable condition and two children are in stable condition.

“The police came because there was a fire and we had to run. I took the children barefoot and everything,” said Natalie García.

Once Natalie was safe, she saw firefighters working to save the victims.

“I saw when the girl took out her arm. There she said ‘I can’t breathe’, ‘I can’t breathe’. And I saw how they took her out.”

Authorities say these types of fires are incredibly deadly. So far this year there have been 216 battery fires.

In total, 120 people were injured and 14 have died.

Compared to last year when only 6 people died in these fires.

Community members are frustrated that some are still ignoring the warnings.

Neighbor.

“The thing is that they have been told so many times, warning people not to have those ‘scooters’ or whatever in the apartment or inside. That has to be outside because that is harmful,” said another neighbor.

Now the Fire Commissioner is imploring New Yorkers to make all devices they purchase certified and to use them properly to prevent fires like this one.

2023-10-17 22:21:00
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