The massive fire that tore through a Brooklyn building — where it destroyed two storefront businesses and two apartments and left a 30-year-old man clinging to life — was sparked by an exploding e-bike battery, the FDNY confirmed Friday.
“The battery was charging at the time,” the FDNY said on X regarding the battery that sparked a two-alarm blaze on Avenue M near Ocean Parkway in Midwood at about 7 a.m. Thursday. “This fire injured four people, one critically.”
The 30-year-old man in critical condition suffered extensive burns and smoke inhalation and was recuperating at a burn unit in Staten Island, officials said. The other three men were treated and released.
The burning e-bike was sitting at the foot of the stairs leading to the two apartments when it exploded. Within seconds, it sparked the fire and hampered rescue efforts, FDNY officials said.
FDNY Fire Marshal Daniel Flynn said the charred e-bike was found in the “area of origin” of the fire.
The fire was put out within 45 minutes, FDNY officials said. More than 100 firefighters and EMS personnel were called in to extinguish the blaze and treat the injured.
The raging fire destroyed two second-floor apartments, a dry cleaners, and a spa.
It miraculously spared Mazza & More, a bakery right next to the Prompt Cleaners, which was gutted by the fire.
A worker who opened the store Thursday morning was worried that the fire had significantly damaged his business, but was hit with a wave of relief when he raised the roll-down gate.
“It smelled like the store, smelled like the food. It didn’t smell like smoke, thank god,” said the 30-year-old worker, who wished not to be named. The fire, he said, occurred just a few hundred feet from the bakery’s kitchen. “That’s the part we were most concerned about because of the gas oven.”
The rest of the day was “chaos” as workers watched FDNY Fire Marshals investigate the blaze and loyal customers flowing in to make sure everyone was OK.
“People were coming in like, ‘Oh god we heard what happened! The first thing we did was come check!’” the worker said. “It was very nice. It was very touching.”
The employee didn’t know the four men who lived in the two burned out apartments.
“It’s like a rotating door. It’s constantly changing,” he said.
As of Monday, lithium-ion batteries have sparked 107 fires in the city that led to 46 injuries and one death. At the same time last year, e-bike and scooter batteries caused 114 fires with 78 injuries and 13 deaths, FDNY officials said.
In March, a raging Bronx fire that left 10 people hurt and displaced 26 residents was sparked by a lithium-ion battery-powered e-bike stored under the stairs, said FDNY officials. In February, a lithium-ion battery sparked a massive blaze in Harlem that killed a Columbia Journalism School graduate and injured 17 others.
Factory-installed scooter batteries seem safe and adhere to industry standards, safety experts say. The batteries that tend to combust are after-market items e-bike users buy online or in scooter stores as supplements or replacements for the battery that came with the device, said FDNY officials.
Many deliveristas buy knock-off backup batteries so their rides can stay continuously charged.
The Fire Department recommends that scooter owners never charge batteries unattended, and that it should be charged outdoors.
Nationwide, charging lithium-ion batteries for devices like scooters and e-bikes sparked 330 fires from 2015 to 2018, causing more than $9 million in property damage, says a Consumer Product Safety Commission study released in 2020.