EV Grieve

An award-winning news site covering the East Village of NYC

Sunday, May 14, 2023

Reader report: Apartment fire at 182 Avenue B

 The FDNY responded to a late-night (after 2 a.m.) fire at 182 Avenue B between 11th Street and 12th Street.  EVG reader Joe shared these photos from this morning, showing soot and broken glass on the sidewalk… and a burned-up office chair on the fire escape outside the third-floor apartment where the fire started…Officials at the scene blamed a lithium battery from an e-bike. (And per the Citizen app: “Firefighters advise that a lithium battery was involved in the fire.”)  There weren’t reports of any injuries… and no word on the extent — if any — of damage to the ground-floor tenant, Haile Bistro.  CBS 2 reported last month that “lithium-ion battery fires are prompting more and more apartment buildings to pull the plug on e-bikes.”  As NY1 reported yesterday: “The FDNY says 66 fires have been started by lithium-ion batteries, killing five people. Last year, the city saw 216 fires and six deaths related to the batteries.”  This past week, two people died after a fire on West 190th Street sparked by a lithium battery. Posted by Grieve at 11:42 AM  Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to PinterestLabels: e-bikes, East Village fires