An electric bicycle powered by a lithium-ion battery is believed to be behind a deadly fire Monday in New York that killed two children.
New York City Fire Department Chief John Hodgens said it took his firefighters just three minutes to reach the burning house in Queens, but due to the speed with which the fire consumed the bike and the fact that it was being loaded near the front entrance of the multi-family building, the victims “had no chance of getting out of the building”.
Hodgens said the father and his six children were in a second-floor apartment when the fire broke out. Together with three children, he managed to jump out of the window and save himself. The mother was not at home at the time of the fire.
“We got there very quickly. And if it wasn’t a bicycle fire, we would most likely be able to put out the fire without any problems. But the nature of these fires is like an explosion of fire,” Hodgens told reporters outside the burned house. “This is a persistent problem. We implore everyone to be very careful and aware of the dangers of these devices,” he added.
Monday’s tragedy is yet another incident in New York where people are dying as a result of an electric bicycle fire. Since the beginning of the year, such incidents have caused five deaths, and 59 fires were caused by an electric two-wheeler, the AP agency writes. (PAP)
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