A Charging Lithium-ion Battery Was Ignition Source Of Bronx Fire

A lithium-ion battery in an electric bike or scooter self-combusted in a Bronx apartment building, sparking a four-alarm fire early Saturday morning, according to the Fire Department of New York (FDNY).

The FDNY were alerted to flames at 2230 Grand Concourse just after 2 a.m. and the fire was extinguished about three hours later, with one firefighter sustaining minor injuries, an FDNY spokesperson told CNN Saturday.

New York City Fire Marshals determined the initial flames were caused by a lithium-ion battery that burst into flames in a restaurant on the ground floor of the building, according to the FDNY.

The fire then spread vertically through voids in the building and went up through the structure’s internal framework spreading to apartments on the top floor where the blaze caused fire, smoke and water damage, the spokesperson explained.