New York Fire Kills Four After Blaze at E-Bike Shop

Four people, including a 71-year-old man, have died after a fire broke out at an e-bike shop in New York City, police said.

A blaze broke out at a six-story building that houses HQ E-Bike Repairs on Madison Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side at around 12:15 a.m. on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the New York Fire Department (FDNY) told Newsweek.

The fire tore through through the store, which has residential apartments above it.

Six adults were transported to three area hospitals in a critical condition.

Four of them—two men and two women—have died, a spokesperson for the New York Police Department told Newsweek. Two women remain in critical condition.

The blaze was upgraded to a three alarm fire at 12:45 a.m., the fire department said.

A total of 33 units, with 138 fire and EMS personnel, responded to the scene. The fire was under control by around 2:35 a.m. A firefighter and an EMT sustained minor injuries.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, the fire department spokesperson said.

Photos of the scene showed burned bikes and scooters piled up on the corner of the street.

CBS News interviewed a deli owner who called the fire department after seeing the blaze.

"I step out, I look, it's a huge flame coming out of the gate," the deli owner said. "I call the fire department, they come within 10 minutes. Once they got here, the flames started getting bigger and stronger… It was a whole mess."

The Red Cross said on Twitter that it has provided emergency shelter for eight households, comprising 23 adults and two children.

Electric bikes and scooters have become a popular, environmentally friendlier way to make deliveries and zip around New York City in recent years.

But many of them run on lithium-ion batteries, which pose fire risks. The fire department said about 200 blazes and six deaths in 2022 were tied to problems with lithium-ion batteries in "micromobility" devices.

In April this year, two young people were killed in New York City's Queens borough in a fire that was blamed on an e-bike.

On Tuesday, the FDNY urged New Yorkers to follow the correct procedures to prevent battery fires.

"The FDNY is encouraging New Yorkers w/ lithium-ion powered mobility devices to follow practices to prevent fires and keep you safe," the department said in a tweet.

"Do not leave batteries charging unattended or overnight when you're sleeping. Do not use power or extension cords to charge," it added.

The FDNYSmart website provides safety tips for owners of devices with lithium-ion batteries.

Update 6/20/23, 2:33 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.