Since the beginning of 2026, 86 people have died in New York because of fires, almost twice as many as 44 registered in the same period of the previous year. The data, spread by the city fire department (FDNY), returned to the center of attention after the fire that on Thursday 5 November killed six people in a home of Sunset Park, in Brooklyn. It was the most serious since the beginning of the year and the second, within eight days, to cause the death of at least four people.
The fire of Sunset Park began just before two at night in a two-storey building on the 58th Street. When the firefighters arrived, less than four minutes after the first call, the flames had already reached all levels of the house. Over 230 rescuers intervened and it took almost three hours to turn off the fire. Four people were found dead inside the building, two others died in the hospital. Nine people were injured, including three firefighters and two police officers. The police identified three of the victims: Lin Cheng Zong, 47, Weixiu Zeng, 52, and Li Sun Zhu, 21.
The causes of the fire are still being investigated. Among the remains of the building were found two lithium-ion batteries and at least one carbonized electric bicycle, but investigators did not determine whether they were at the origin of the flames. Some reports have also emerged regarding the conditions of the property: according to the registers of the Department of Buildings, between 2025 and 2026 had been presented exposed for alleged abusive changes, including the transformation of the basement into an apartment and the subdivision of the upper floors into several housing units. The inspectors had attempted four inspections without being able to access the building and the reports had been closed without internal verification. It was not ascertained whether the alleged changes had consequences on the fire.
Eight days earlier, on October 28, another fire had killed four members of the same family at Patterson Houses, a popular house complex in the Mott Haven neighborhood in the Bronx. In that case, investigators identified the cause in a lithium battery of an electric medium, which had been on fire during the night in an apartment on the 11th floor. Among the victims were an 11-year-old child, two teenagers and a 33-year-old woman. A fifth member of the family had been hospitalized.
Regardless of the nature of the last fire, recent events brought attention to lithium-ion batteries, mainly used in electric bicycles and scooters, and which can burn quite easily due to defects, damages, incompatible charging systems or unsuitable repair operations. When a cell gets overheated, it can trigger a chain reaction that involves others, quickly producing flames, heat and toxic gases. If the device is located near the entrance of an apartment or along an escape route, as often happens in buildings where bicycles are left on the landings or between the stairs, it can prevent people from leaving.
According to the data reported by the City Council, in 2026 firefighters registered 406 fires caused by lithium batteries, against 241 of the same period of 2025: an increase of approximately 68 percent. The fires caused 70 wounded and nine deaths counted this year, although one concerns a dead person due to the consequences of a fire occurred in 2023. The victims of battery fires occurred in 2026 are therefore eight.
The figure interrupts a trend that seemed to have consolidated in recent years. In 2023 battery fires killed 18 people, down to six in 2024 and one in 2025. The decrease had come after the introduction of new rules on the sale of electrical devices and batteries without security certifications, along with information campaigns aimed above all at home delivery workers.
The spread of electric bicycles has grown considerably during the pandemic, when many New Yorkers have begun to use more delivery services. For thousands of riders these means have become everyday work tools, but keeping them and reloading them at home can be a risk, especially when using cheap, damaged or modified batteries. In recent years the city has started programs to replace non-certified devices and experienced charging systems and replacement of batteries outside homes.
The batteries, however, do not have anything to do with all 86 deaths recorded this year. On February 9, in Elmhurst, Queens, a fire had killed Miguelina Alcantara, 34 years old, and her daughter Emma, born just 17 days earlier. The two lived in an apartment built in the basement of a house. On March 16, in Flushing, in Queens, four people died in a fire that investigators then classified as painful. There was a three-year-old girl among the victims. A man was later charged with murder and arson.
On May 4, in the neighborhood of Inwood, Manhattan, a fire had killed three people, including fashion journalist Yolaine Díaz and his mother Ana Mirtha Lantigua. According to the prosecutors, the flames started from a cigarette butt still on, thrown into some cardboard boxes in the lobby of the building. Fire and smoke quickly reached the only internal staircase, making it difficult to escape the inhabitants. The investigations showed that some doors of the apartments were opened during the evacuation, favoring the propagation of the flames.
Also for this reason the problem of fire safety concerns the conditions of buildings and the possibilities of evacuation, in addition to the causes that can trigger a fire. According to the annual report of the municipal administration, fires that affected residential structures increased by 6 percent in the fiscal year 2026, from 20.180 to 21.475.
The President of the City Council, Julie Menin, convened an extraordinary audition on 20 November dedicated to the safety of residential buildings and the risks of lithium batteries. Representatives of the city agencies, security experts, workers and associations will be heard, with the aim of verifying whether the existing rules are applied correctly and if further interventions are required.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York State Governor Kathy Hochul also announced they wanted to evaluate new legislative measures. During a conference in Puerto Rico, on November 6, Mamdani said that the fires caused by the batteries became one of the main concerns of his administration and that the Municipality is examining both new laws and possible administrative interventions.
Meanwhile, firefighters continue to insist on some precautions: use certified batteries, do not leave them in charge during the night and keep them away from the exits. For fires in residential buildings, the FDNY also recommends closing doors during evacuation. A door left open can allow flames and smoke to quickly reach stairs and corridors, jeopardizing the people who live in other apartments.
L’articolo In New York the dead in the fires almost doubled proviene da IlNewyorkese.
