The blaze that tore through a Chinatown e-bike store during the early hours Tuesday morning that left four people dead and two fighting for their lives was sparked by lithium ion-batteries, according to top FDNY brass.
FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh and Chief Fire Marshal Daniel Flynn were outside HQ E-Bike Repair, located at 80 Madison Street, just hours after the deadly fire ripped through the store and said the blaze was caused by lithium-ion batteries. They also noted that the business had a history of violations.
“As you can see to my left, it is very clear that this was caused by lithium-ion batteries and e-bikes. There is a very large number of both batteries and bikes in this location,” Commissioner Kavanagh said.
According to authorities, the e-bike repair store has a checkered past with the FDNY. It has racked up a slew of violations since 2021 relating to the way the bikes have been charged to the cables the operators are using to do so. Fire Marshal Flynn said the owners have been found guilty of the violations in court.
“We did inspect this property in August, and we did issue FDNY summonses, they were found guilty in court that those were all related to the charging of the batteries and the number of batteries that they had at the location. So, we have been aware of this location and there were also some violations issued in 2021 as well,” Flynn said.
Despite being fined $1,600 and found guilty, the business remained in operation. Flynn reported that after the court hearing the issue was then referred back to the FDNY where they were about to conduct an inspection again. However, the June 20 fire came before they could do so.
Fire Commissioner Kavanagh lamented the loss of life and spoke about the dangers of lithium-ion batteries being housed in a business directly below apartments, calling it “incredibly deadly.” Kavanagh also reminded the public that e-bike battery fires swiftly combust in massive explosions, especially when not charged or stored correctly.
“We really want to implore everyone to make sure that they’re taking this incredibly seriously,” Kavanagh said.
The latest FDNY statistics state there have been 108 fires related to lithium-ion batteries this year alone with the death toll rising to 13.
The Red Cross tweeted that it had provided emergency housing to 23 adults and 2 children as a result of the fire.
