“My grandchildren. Since then I haven’t slept well because there are people who have it in my ‘building’.”
Minerva Fernández martyrs recalls one fateful morning last August, when in one of Jackie Robinson’s tenement buildings, the East Harlem neighborhood awoke horrified by the deaths of a five-year-old girl and a 36-year-old woman, the product of a fire caused by a lithium battery left to charge overnight.
The grandmother of three small children, Minerva is so scared, she says she wishes they didn’t exist.
“Everyone. Burn them. All, all, because I’m afraid for my grandchildren.”
To try to prevent future disasters, the New York City Fire Department has announced that as early as 2023 the owners of all buildings in the Big Apple will be required to post a bulletin in front of the residents of the building, with information on the danger of lithium batteries, commonly used in bicycles and scooters.
And it is that despite the warnings and calamities that Honorio Muñoz confesses to having seen in the news due to these devices, he exposes himself to danger.
“I always leave it charging in the room over night for 4 or 5 hours.”
-He is sleeping?
“Yup”.
The bulletin, say the firefighters, includes the precautions that owners of means of transport powered by lithium batteries should take, and a detailed guide on what to do in the event of a fire caused by them. They must be printed in full color and on both sides of the card stock.
To date in 2022, more than 140 accidents and six deaths due to lithium batteries have been reported.
Juan Rojas says that his wife asked him to buy an electric bicycle to get her to work quickly. But he told her no, that he doesn’t need her.
“I decided not to have it because I have a family, I think about my family and I also think about the people who live there,” Rojas said.
According to data, in addition to six deaths, fires caused by lithium batteries caused 139 injuries in 2022.
But they know that for now they are here to stay. In addition to being a means of transport, they are used as a work tool. And this Christmas they fear it will be a much appreciated gift.
The New York City Fire Department requirement is expected to go into effect in April next year.
