Advocates to demand NYC find solutions to prevent e-bike battery-related fires

Fire safety advocates will meet at City Hall Monday morning to demand that more be done to prevent fires linked to these batteries.

News 12 Staff

Nov 14, 2022, 10:26 AM

Updated 562 days ago

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Advocates to demand NYC find solutions to prevent e-bike battery-related fires
A group of 25 concerned New Yorkers from Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx are set to demand changes when it comes to electric bike battery safety.
Fire safety advocates will meet at City Hall Monday morning to demand that more be done to prevent fires linked to these batteries.
"This is a concern for everyone, this is a safety issue for you for me, for all of us that live in an apartment," says Lenny Feliu, co-founder of Safer Charging for Concerned Citizens for Battery Swapping. It's a group of delivery drivers, concerned citizens and safety advocates that are asking the city to stop charging electric bikes and scooters indoors. The reason they say is because it could be the answer to limit indoor fires.
"These lithium-ion batteries are flammable, highly flammable items that are ticking bombs walking," Feliu says.
According to the New York Fire Department, almost 200 fires this year were caused by lithium-ion batteries that are used to power electronic bikes.
Just over a week ago, a woman was pulled to safety after dangling from a window 20 stories up during a fire that happened on 52nd Street, which also left 38 people injured.
The FDNY says the cause of that fire was a lithium-ion battery.
"Why do we continue to have them unregulated and uncertified? This item needs to be certified and we need to be charging them outdoors, not indoors. This is the goal for people to understand that the outlets are not meant for charging these flammable items," Feliu says.
Now elected officials, safety advocates, e-bike owners and victims will rally together on Monday to find a solution.
"I mean, imagine you living on the 13th floor like I grew up with no fire escape. You're basically trapped in there. There's no way out," Feliu says.
Monday's hearing on electric bikes and lithium-ion battery fire safety starts at 10 a.m. at City Hall.


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