Lithium-ion batteries determined to be the cause of several fires in NYC since 2021 that resulted in casualties
Legislators have been trying to find methods to properly regulate e-bike batteries ever since earlier this month, when a lithium-ion battery caused a blaze that forced a tenant to hang from the 20th floor of a burning Manhattan building.
On November 5, a lithium-ion battery was determined to be the cause of a fire that broke out in an apartment building located on East 52nd Street. The incident caused over forty individuals to be injured, including at least two in severe conditions.
Although there were no casualties in this incident, the battery has been the cause of at least six deaths around the city as a result of fires that have occurred since fall 2021.
A blast from an ion lithium battery in August started a fire in an apartment in East Harlem, which claimed the lives of a little girl who was just 5 years old and the girlfriend of the child’s father. Ericka Williams, 5, and Chanise Anderson, 36, passed away despite the heroic attempts that Erick Williams, a loving father, made to rescue them. Williams suffered severe burns as a result of the incident.
During the same week, Rafael Elias Lopez-Centeno, age 27, passed away as a result of injuries sustained in a fire that was started in his Bronx apartment by a malfunctioning lithium-ion battery. According to the authorities, he was recharging an electric bicycle next to the entrance of his unit.
In the month of March, a malfunctioning battery started a fire inside an apartment in the borough of Queens. After being rescued from the fire, a man of 43 years of age was taken to the hospital, where he remained until eventually succumbing to his injuries about two weeks later.
A resident of the Jacob Riis Houses in Lower Manhattan died in a fire that was started by a battery in the month of December. According to the authorities, the fire resulted in the death of one adult male and the injury of one adult female and two teenagers.
In September of 2021, a 9-year-old kid was killed after he was trapped in the basement by a charging moped battery. Remi Miguel Gomez Hernandez passed away at the site of the incident, despite his father’s attempts to rescue him. The father suffered burns in the attempt to save his son.
