Lithium-ion batteries, used in electric bicycles and other electronic mobility devices, have soared in popularity during the pandemic-driven delivery boom and are now a leading cause of fires in New York City, FDNY officials said.
FDNY Chief Fire Marshal Daniel Flynn told the Post that fires related to lithium-ion batteries have increased nearly nine times since the pandemic, with more battery-related fires occurring in the past two months than in all of 2019. He said there were many.
“These electronic devices are pervasive on our streets, and there are more of them now than ever before,” Flynn said.
The fire chief blames the popularity of electric bikes and scooters on the 2020 “gig economy” boom, when people bought cheap equipment en masse to perform delivery jobs.
He added that the vehicle has also become popular among commuters.
“People bought these devices about three years ago, and now they’re aging,” he said, adding that many people are unaware of the dangers posed by the wear and tear of battery energy cells. he pointed out.
“I’ve seen people do their own repairs and modifications, go to unauthorized vendor shops, and replace old batteries themselves,” he added. “We are telling people not to choose the least expensive option and to contact the manufacturer directly.”
According to the FDNY, this improper maintenance and defects in older models are contributing to a sharp increase in the number of fires related to lithium-ion batteries.
In 2019, there were only 30 battery-related fires, but in 2021 that number more than tripled, with 104 fires reported. There were also four deaths that year, but no deaths were reported due to fires in 2019 and 2020.
In the following year, the number of battery-related fires more than doubled, with 220 fires reported and six deaths. Last year, the FDNY reported 268 fires related to lithium-ion batteries, resulting in 150 injuries and 18 deaths.
As of Feb. 26, there had been 31 battery-related fires, with 26 people injured and one killed, officials said.
The latest fatality was Indian journalist Fazil Khan, who died in a fire in Harlem on February 23 when a lithium-ion battery caught fire in his six-story apartment building.
To address the presence of defective batteries in the city, the FDNY’s Lithium Ion Task Force is conducting inspections across the five boroughs.
FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanaugh vowed in February to continue cracking down on companies that offer to replace old battery cells individually. This is a fire code violation that creates what she calls a “Frankenstein battery.”
“They’re killing people, they’ve been killing people, and they’re going to kill more people if companies continue to operate this way,” Kavanaugh said.
But while New York is requiring businesses and consumers to follow new UL standards for batteries, there’s little the city can do about old batteries coming in from other states that don’t require such regulations, Flynn said. It pointed out.
But U.S. Rep. Richie Torres (D-N.Y.) is pushing for a national standard to end “an unprecedented crisis in fire safety.”
“Poorly manufactured and poorly handled lithium-ion batteries are a ticking time bomb for American homes and businesses,” Torres said at a mid-February Congressional hearing urging passage of the Lithium-Ion Battery Consumer Standards Act. “We are working on it,” he said.
