NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- Two people were injured Monday morning, one of them seriously, when an e-bike burst into flames in a Bronx apartment building, the FDNY said.
The e-bike caught fire just before 6 a.m. in the basement of 768 E. 187th St., a four-story building in Belmont.
Twelve FDNY units and 60 firefighters responded to the fire and were able to bring it under control around 6:30 a.m.
One civilian was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital in serious condition but is expected to survive.
The second civilian declined further medical attention at the scene.
Video shows residents looking on as smoke pours from the building near E. 187th Street and Prospect Avenue.
The Red Cross was at the scene helping several families with housing and other assistance.
The FDNY confirmed an e-bike was involved in the fire. Hazmat was requested for the disposal of the e-bike.
It's the latest e-bike to spark a fire in the five boroughs in what officials have called a growing threat to residents.
Just last week, FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh was on Capitol Hill to testify about the dangers posed by the lithium-ion batteries that power many e-bikes and e-scooters.
"We have reached a point of crisis in New York City, with ion batteries now a top cause of fatal fires in New York," Kavanagh told the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Consumer advocates and fire departments like the FDNY have been pushing the U.S. to establish mandatory safety standards and confiscate noncompliant imports when they arrive at the border or shipping ports, so unsafe e-bikes and poorly manufactured batteries don't reach streets and endanger homes.
With some 65,000 e-bikes zipping through its streets — more than any other place in the U.S. — New York City is the epicenter of battery-related fires. There have been more than 100 such blazes so far this year, resulting in 13 deaths, already more than double the six fatalities last year.
On June 20, four people were killed and two critically injured when a fire tore through an e-bike repair shop below their apartment building in Lower Manhattan.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related
Related
Related
