NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A fire broke out at an e-bike shop in Queens early Thursday morning, injuring one firefighter, the FDNY said as fire marshals eyed lithium-ion batteries as the cause.
Smoldering bikes and scooters were piled up at Kings Electric Scooters on Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill, where the fire broke out around 2:30 a.m.
About 90 members of the FDNY battled the fire as smoke and flames poured out of a rear garage storage area at the business.
“The fire was pretty quickly controlled,” said FDNY Deputy Chief George Healy. “We made searches. We removed some occupants from the second-floor residence.”
Healy said the fire marshals were on scene and investigating the cause.
“But there were e-bikes involved, so probably this is going to be another lithium-ion battery fire,” the chief said.
The FDNY responded to an incident at the business earlier this year, Healy said. It was also in a rear area where devices are stored and worked on.
Lithium-ion batteries have become a major fire hazard in the city in recent years as the popularity of e-bikes and e-scooters has soared. The FDNY commissioner even testified on Capitol Hill about them last year.
Mayor Eric Adams said last month that the batteries have started 733 fires in the city since 2019, killing 29 people and injuring 422 more.
Healy said it’s important New Yorkers know that the devices can be extremely dangerous if precautions aren’t taken.
“The messaging has to be out there that we shouldn’t be charging these during sleeping hours,” Healy said. “We shouldn’t have them by the doors that are the exits for multiple dwellings. We want to use them safely, and we always want to make sure we’re using an approved product.”
The FDNY has an e-bike safety guide that can be found here at NYC.gov.
In addition to Thursday morning’s fire, the Buildings Department found people were occupying the basement of the building illegally. The department was taking enforcement action on that, officials said.