NEW YORK – A total of 38 people were treated this Saturday by medical services in the New York neighborhood of Manhattan following a fire caused by an electric bicycle lithium battery, the New York Fire Department reported.
At least two of those affected are in critical condition and five are in serious condition, Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said.
Several people collected images of thick smoke escaping from one of the apartments in building number 429 on 52nd Street, Manhattan, as well as a woman’s cumbersome facade rescue by means of a rope attached to the building’s roof.
THE ACCIDENT WAS CAUSED BY A LITHIUM BATTERY, ACCORDING TO THE AUTHORITIES
In statements to the media, fire chief Daniel E. Flynn assured that there were several electric bicycles on the same floor and that the resident of the apartment was repairing them.
Right now, they are investigating whether his business was legal.
Flynn recalled that so far this year there have been 200 fires caused by lithium batteries in which six people have died.
Authorities have repeatedly repeated the dangers of these batteries and launched public awareness campaigns.
Last September, the New York Prosecutor’s Office launched a campaign to distribute information brochures in several languages with recommendations for recharging, storage and maintenance, after 4 deaths and 79 injuries were recorded in 2021 due to the fires caused from these batteries.
The prosecutor then warned that the batteries of electric bicycles used by thousands of home delivery workers, being lithium-ion and with a greater energy storage capacity, “are more likely to catch fire than a traditional battery”.
