A hearth in a Harlem condominium early Wednesday sparked by the lithium-ion battery on an electrical scooter killed a 5-year-old woman and a 36-year-old lady, and left the kid’s father in vital situation, the police and hearth officers mentioned.
Firefighters responded simply after 2:30 a.m. to a hearth that broke out in a sixth-floor condominium in the Jackie Robinson Houses, owned and managed by the New York City Housing Authority. The hearth was contained to 1 condominium and introduced underneath management about an hour later. One different individual was severely injured, and a firefighter and no less than one different individual had minor accidents.
A charred scooter sat outdoors the constructing on Wednesday. Former co-workers of the person who was critically injured mentioned it belonged to him. They described him as fun-loving and mentioned he had beforehand labored for the Parks Department. His identify, and that of his daughter and the girl, who neighbors mentioned was his girlfriend, weren’t instantly launched.
E-bikes and scooters have been implicated in quite a few fires in latest months, main the housing authority to suggest banning them from its buildings fully. Experts say the issues are sometimes linked to growing old, broken or malfunctioning batteries and charging gadgets. The Fire Department has repeatedly warned of the hazards of lithium-ion batteries.
Another hearth on Monday on Townsend Avenue in the Bronx was additionally sparked by lithium-ion batteries from e-bikes or scooters, hearth marshals mentioned.
On Wednesday in Harlem, the partitions in the hallway close to the condominium had been blackened and the odor of smoke lingered. A girl who lives on the fifth ground mentioned she had escaped along with her kids, together with a 3-month-old.
“It’s scary,” she mentioned. “It’s a tragedy that it happened, a little girl’s life was lost.”
Alain Delaquérière contributed analysis.