A man was killed and 10 others hurt after a charging e-bike battery fueled a fast-moving fire that tore through a Queens home, officials said.
A man in his 60s, whose name was not publicly released pending family notification, died from smoke inhalation and the deadly blaze was sparked by a lithium-ion battery, FDNY Fire Marshals announced Saturday.
Heavy flames raced through the top two floors of the three-story home at 24-37 89th Street in East Elmhurst shortly after 11 p.m. Friday, the FDNY said.
Firefighters battling the two-alarm fire discovered the doomed man on the second floor, police said. He was pronounced dead at Elmhurst Hospital. Two men and a woman were also taken to Elmhurst in stable condition, police said.
One of the men, Henry Corona, 45, told The Post he heard “exploding noises” and “thought they were gunshots,” adding he ran outside and saw his mother “fall to the floor from the second story” yelling, ‘I’m dying! I’m dying!’”
“I said, ‘No you’re not’ and pulled her out,” said Corona, who cut his hand breaking a glass window.
“I was trying to save the dogs, I couldn’t feel anything but rage, I punched and punched and sliced my hand all the way down.”
Corona’s niece, Heidi Abreu, 22, who used to live at the home, identified the dead man as her uncle. She believed there were two fires, including one started by the charging e-bike battery in the first-floor hallway.
“The water wouldn’t come out of the fire hydrant, I was just watching the house burn because the water didn’t want to come out,” Abreu sobbed. She said the family had three dogs, a pit bull, who is now staying with a neighbor and two chihuahuas, who had not been immediately accounted for.
Three civilians and four firefighters also suffered minor injuries, officials said. Two firefighters were treated at NY-Presbyterian Hospital, Queens, and two went to Elmhurst Hospital.
More than 100 firefighters and EMS personnel responded to the two-alarm blaze, which was deemed under control at 12:40 a.m. Saturday, the FDNY said.
E-bikes and other lithium-ion battery-powered mobility devices have become all the rage. But many people store and charge e-bike batteries in their apartments, which “present serious fire safety hazards,” officials said.
Fires caused by e-bike batteries killed six people in 2022, officials said. It was a lithium battery that was blamed for a fire in College Point, Queens, in September that left an 8-year-old girl dead and two adults seriously injured. Fire officials said an electric scooter battery caused the blaze.
Friday’s deadly Queens fire is believed to be the first such e-bike battery-related blaze of the new year, records show.