Six people died and nine others were injured in the fire that on Thursday, November 5 destroyed a house in Sunset Park, in the neighborhood of Brooklyn. Two electric bicycles were found in the building, now at the center of the investigations of the investigators: it has not yet been established if their batteries have caused the flames. The mayor of Mamdani, who took part in the press conference together with the firefighters, expressed the sympathy of the city for the victims and the closeness to the family and said that the causes of the fire will be ascertained by an investigation and the results will be communicated to the citizen.
The alarm was taken at 1:39 a.m., when a neighbor called help to signal a fire at 653 on 58th Street. The firefighters arrived in just over three minutes and found the two-storey building already wrapped in flames, from the basement to the upper floor. The fire came out of the windows and several people were trapped inside.
According to the official account of the City of New York, four people were found dead in the building and two others died after the transfer to the hospital. Among the nine wounded there are four civilians, three firefighters and two police officers. A total of 231 rescuers took place, with 74 vehicles and operating units. The fire was declared under control at 4:28.
The intervention was complicated by the structure of the building, built mainly in wood, like many of the adjacent houses. The fire propagated quickly through the different planes, causing the partial transfer of an internal staircase. The firemen managed to prevent the flames from involving the rest of the block and to rescue four people trapped. Eight residents of nearby buildings had to temporarily leave their homes.
During the operations two electric bicycles were recovered, which investigators are examining to verify a possible connection with the origin of the fire. To securely determine the causes, Fire Department of New York (FDNY) technicians must identify the trigger point and analyze the recovered materials.
The nearest precedent dates back to October 28, when an electric bicycle battery had caused a fire at the Patterson Houses, a public residential complex in the Bronx. The flames had developed near the entrance of an apartment on the 11th floor, preventing the occupants from reaching the exit. In the Bronx fire, an 11-year-old boy died, and the budget was subsequently increased to four deaths.
The frequency of these episodes emerges from the data collected by FDNY. On 30 October 2026, the department had registered 401 fires caused by lithium-ion batteries, with 74 wounded and six dead. In the entire 2025 the fires had been 292. The updated data of November, reported by the local press, already exceeds 400. This is not only electric bicycles: the category also includes batteries used in other devices. The FDNY and its foundation renewed security recommendations just after the Bronx fire.
The problem is not just about New York. A study published in March 2026 by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the US Federal Agency that deals with standards and measurements, estimated that fires linked to lithium-ion batteries in consumer products are increasing in the United States at a rate of about 10 percent a year. The research also highlights the difficulties in collecting complete data, because many fire detection systems do not clearly distinguish the different storage technologies.
In the United Kingdom, where a specific signalling system exists, the Office for Product Safety and Standards received in 2025 communications relating to 217 fires that involved electric bicycles. Considering also monopattini and other micromobility devices, the reported episodes were 267. In 55 percent of the cases the place concerned was an internal or residential environment. The precise report that the reports are voluntary and do not represent the total number of fires in the country.
Of the 267 reported fires, 86 occurred while the device was connected to the current, while 92 occurred when it was not in charge. This information was not available for the other 89 episodes. The distinction shows that prevention cannot be limited to the choice of the charger: they also count the conditions of the cells and the way the battery is kept.
In other countries, such as Italy, an equally detailed national census is not available to isolate fires caused by electric bicycle batteries. There are reports of individual episodes, but they are not enough to estimate the size of the phenomenon.
Lithium-ion batteries are used in e-bikes because they allow you to store much energy in little space and with a relatively low weight. A battery pack consists of several cells connected to each other, controlled by an electronic system called Battery Management System (BMS), which monitors parameters such as voltage, current and temperature.
If a cell has an internal defect, it suffers damage or is subjected to abnormal conditions, it can develop heat uncontrolledly. It is the phenomenon known as thermal runaway, or thermal escape. Overheating can spread to neighboring cells and cause the outflow of flammable gases, flames and smoke. In some cases the reaction develops very quickly, leaving little time to move away.
Not all batteries have the same level of risk. The quality of the components, the presence of effective protection systems, the compatibility of the charger and the possible modification of the device affect safety. In the British report, 82 of the 217 marked e-bike fires were bicycles converted to electric drive, while for 98 it was not known the type of construction.
To reduce risk, FDNY recommends using compatible and certified devices and chargers, do not change batteries, do not leave them in charge during the night or without surveillance and do not place them along the escape routes. A battery that inflates, emits unusual odours, produces abnormal noises or overheat must be considered potentially dangerous. If you start smoking, you must immediately abandon the area and call for help.
New York has introduced certification requirements for the sale and rental of electric bicycles and batteries, as well as programs to offer delivery workers alternative charging solutions to apartments. The problem is particularly relevant for those who use the bicycle as a work tool and live in homes where there are no separate spaces to guard it.
In Sunset Park, in the meantime, the presence of electric bicycles is one of the elements in the valley, not a conclusion, but the data collected in New York and abroad show how central the general problem of battery safety is.
L’articolo Six died in a fire in Brooklyn, the alarm for e-bike batteries comes from IlNewyorkese.
