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.