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Chinatown e-bike shop vacated as FDNY continues lithium-ion battery crackdown

By

Ramsey Khalifeh

Published Jun 29, 2023

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More than 100 improperly stored lithium-ion batteries were found at 91 Canal St. on Tuesday, the FDNY said.

 

Courtesy FDNY

By

Ramsey Khalifeh

Published Jun 29, 2023

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An e-bike shop at 91 Canal St. in Chinatown was vacated on Tuesday after more than 100 lithium-ion batteries were found improperly charged and stored, according to a fire department investigation.

After a fire erupted at another Chinatown e-bike shop last week, killing four people at 80 Madison St., the fire department enlisted field units to more than 200 e-bike shops across the city. The shop at 91 Canal St. was one of them.

“What is clear is that this location was essentially a ticking time bomb,” Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said at a press conference in Brooklyn on Thursday. “It's a non-fire proof building situated in a dense location with hundreds of batteries that were cause for concern.”

Kavanagh said that firefighters found between 500 and 1,000 improperly stored batteries at 80 Madison St. following an ongoing investigation at that store.

Officials at the FDNY announced after last week’s deadly fire that New Yorkers would be able to call 311 to report tips about unsafe storage of lithium-ion batteries. Since then, there have been 38 inspections of shops as a result of those calls, the department said.

“We will find you and we will fine you and we will shut you down,” Kavanagh said.

According to the FDNY, there have been 113 fires so far this year as a result of lithium-ion batteries, which have killed 13 people and injured 71. Lithium-ion batteries have posed safety concerns especially among delivery drivers, who have been working to meet increased demand from food delivery services.

Following the deadly Chinatown fire, the city announced it would install 173 safe outdoor charging and storage stations for lithium-ion batteries early next year, with the goal of reducing the number of deadly fires.

The FDNY has publicly available safety tips for lithium-ion battery storage.

Because of their lightweight design, high density of energy and rechargeability, lithium-ion batteries — which can also be found in everything from your phone, computer and electric car — have become increasingly popular, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. But when a battery is damaged, the nature of its design can cause a series of potentially deadly issues.

The fire department said that lithium-ion batteries can enter an “uncontrollable, self-heating state” that creates a release of gas, which causes fire.

These types of fires are even more damaging because they can quickly spread to other batteries and reignite after a fire has already been extinguished. Just days after the deadly blaze at 80 Madison St., another fire at the same location was reignited.

Fires caused by lithium-ion batteries are also made even more dangerous by the fact that regular fire extinguishers don't work on them.

Tagged

public safety

manhattan

Ramsey Khalifeh

Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]

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