New York, NY — Several New York City fires in residential buildings were reportedly caused by e-bike batteries in the last few months, according to fire investigators.

One of the fires, which occurred in an apartment building in the East Village, killed a man and left a woman in critical condition, while her children (aged 13 and 18) were left using a pole to climb down the side of the building to escape the flames. The teenagers were hospitalized with injuries caused by the fire, but were in stable condition. The fire, which was contained to the family’s fourth floor apartment, is reported to have been caused by multiple e-bikes that were left to charge overnight. There were seven e-bikes in the apartment in total.

Another fire in the Bronx has been attributed to e-bike charging by fire investigators. This fire was much larger in scale than the East Village fire, but caused no fatalities. 150 firefighters and EMS personnel rushed to the scene and got the flames under control by 5 a.m, after four alarms were set off and multiple 911 calls reported the fire at approximately 2 a.m. One firefighter was hospitalized as a result of the fire. Fire officials from the building have traced the source of the flames to the ground floor, where delivery workers stored their e-bikes. It is believed that the fire sparked from one of the lithium ion batteries used in the e-bikes.

When damaged or overcharged, the lithium ion batteries that power e-bikes can release hydrogen gas and explode violently. There were 93 fires caused by lithium ion batteries in 2021.

But e-bikes are far from the only thing that uses lithium ion batteries as a power source. In fact, lithium ion batteries are one of the most used and produced battery types worldwide (next to…