New York chief fire marshal Daniel Flyn believes lithium-ion battery fires increased nine-fold since the Covid epidemic. The root cause was the gig economy that accelerated at the time, he told New York Post on March 3, 2024. This surge occurred when people were desperate for income. Who could have guessed this would lead to so many e-bike lithium-ion battery fires three years later.
Increase in New York E-Bike Lithium-Ion Battery Fires
E-bike lithium-ion battery fires have increased nine-times in New York City since the pandemic. In fact, there were more of them during January and February 2024, than the whole of 2019. We wonder whether the problem is aging batteries, or are there simply more e-bikes on the road?
The chief fire marshal believes he has the answer though. “It’s the prevalence of these e-devices on our streets,” he told New York Post. “There’s way more of them now than ever before,” he continued as he reiterated these two points:
- There are a number of poorly-manufactured and maintained e-bikes.
- These and e-scooters have become a leading cause of New York fires.
The heat from lithium battery fires is intense, the New York chief fire marshal continues. Their flames take time and effort to extinguish, and each and every cell is capable of re-igniting over several days.
More About the Situation and Managing It
Later in the interview Daniel Flynn concedes that people bought the devices three years ago, and that now they’re aging. Unfortunately many of their owners are unaware of the risks attached to older battery cells.
We’ve seen people try to fix it or modify them themselves, he adds. They go to shops of unauthorized vendors, or take it on themselves to replace the old batteries. We tell people not to go with the cheapest option, and seek out the manufacturer directly, the frustrated fire chief concludes.
The root cause seems to be poor maintenance and defects. Moreover, these problems compound with age. Fire departments can manage the risk to an extent with inspections. However, the ball really is in the court of top-tier government.
More Information
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