So far this year, a total of 22 fires, one person dead and 36 injured, has been the tragic toll left by defective lithium batteries for bicycles and electric motorcycles in the Big Apple, one of which occurred on December 25. January in the basement of a house in Kew Gardens, Queens, which affected almost 20 children. Last year there were 216 reported fires, 147 injuries and six deaths in the five counties.
And in her eagerness to prevent these types of tragedies from continuing to occur, a few days ago the commissioner of the Fire Department (FDNY), Laura Kavanagh, filed a formal request with the Federal Consumer Product Safety Commission, where she urged that body to take stricter measures to tighten controls and curb faulty electric bike batteries.
On the streets of New York, deliverists who use lithium batteries as part of their basic work tools, joined the request for greater vigilance to ensure that the devices that give strength and speed to their motorcycles and bicycles are safe for them and for the environments in which they are typically loaded.
This was mentioned by Fernan Castillo, who makes a living as a deliverer in New York, after noticing that a few months ago he had a scare when the lithium battery he had overheated while he was charging it and suddenly began to spark.
“Lithium batteries for us are like gasoline so that we can do our job faster, and although they are expensive, because they can cost between $800 and $1,500, depending on the type of charge they hold, the main problem is that many times Buy in Chinese motorcycle stores and we don’t know if they are safe or if they are rebuilt. That is why I think there should be more vigilance in those stores so that we know that they are selling us things that are not going to burn,” said the Guatemalan delivery man.
“I was saved from a tragedy because I had left the battery charging one night and I had to go to the bathroom, when right there it started to burn and I was able to disconnect it, but if not, there would have been a fire in the house,” he added. .
David Rodríguez, who has worked in the food delivery industry for five years, also supported strengthening safety measures with batteries and denounced that there is an “artisanal” black market, where they offer this type of device for less. .
“Deliveries are exposed to multiple risks every day on the streets, but also, this battery issue has generated another additional problem for us, not only because they can explode but also because many of the houses where we live no longer let us charge them. for fear of fires,” said the Mexican.
“I think it’s a good idea that they intensify the inspection and safety measures for the batteries, but they should also create an office so that one can go and have them checked there and if they are dangerous, that the City subsidize the new ones because they are extra costs that we can no longer carry,” he added.
Hernando Molinar, a deliverer from Queens, joined that call and asked local authorities that instead of persecuting delivery people with fines, they should reach out with more workshops on the risks of batteries and programs to exchange them for safe devices.
“The police are always after us giving us very expensive tickets and even taking away our motorcycles and bicycles, but instead what they have to do, since we are essential workers, is support us so that all of us who work in this are safe that our batteries are good and incidentally avoid tragedies. And if they see that they are of no use, that they help us to replace them”, said the father of the family.
In her appeal to federal authorities, one of the suggestions offered by Commissioner Kavanagh was to seize “imported devices at ports that do not meet minimum industry standards” as well as “impose sanctions on manufacturers who fail to report about the hazards posed by the products and seek additional recalls of unsafe products.”
The Fire Department chief added that federal authorities should “also consider additional regulations, such as prohibiting the sale of battery chargers,” Commissioner Kavanagh said in the letter to the Federal Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Incidents with lithium batteries in NYC in data
- 22 fires for these batteries have been registered this 2023
- 36 injured have left fires this year
- 1 people died in a battery fire this year
- 216 lithium battery fires occurred last year in NYC
- 147 injured left those fires
- 6 fatalities left such fires in NYC