Lithium-ion battery fire displaces dozens of Marble Hill residents
NEW YORK -- Lithium-ion batteries were to blame for another fast-moving fire in New York City that injured several people in the Marble Hill neighborhood, FDNY officials confirmed Tuesday.
At least 10 people, including six firefighters, were injured when the flames broke out Monday afternoon on Marble Hill Avenue and West 225th Street. The damages left more than two dozen displaced.
Firefighters were seen using the fire escape to grab items like guitars for residents who lived on the fourth floor, which suffered extensive damage.
The apartment building has been vacated after the fire, which started Monday around 2:30 p.m.
THe FDNY said it was sparked by a lithium-ion battery in an e-bike found underneath the stairs on the first floor, trapping residents and forcing others to use the fire escape.
Neighbors rushed to help a man and his newborn baby, while others scrambled to save their pets and whatever they could.
"Just like wildfire, it didn't stop," Gina Christoforatos said on the scene.
"Where my mother-in-law lives, there were two bikes there, but one of them didn't have a battery at all," Angelica Rodriguez said.
"I've seen them in the building before. I've always been wary of them," resident Abigail Grubb said.
Grubb has lived in the building for six years, and was heartbroken she could not escape with her cat Walter when the fire broke out.
"I had to go out the fire escape and hope he was somewhere else," Grubb said.
Thankfully, she said Walter, along with two other cats, were found late Monday night, a reunion she had been hoping for.
"He was in the ceiling. He was covered in soot, covered in ash," she said. "It was really overwhelming. I spent the whole day thinking I might not see him again. Getting to have him back get," she said, becoming emotional.
According to the FDNY, so far this year there have been 34 fire investigations related to lithium-ion batteries, not including the Marble Hill fire. There have been 23 injuries, and one death.
"It's honestly an epidemic in the city at this point," Grubb said.
The fire has left at least 25 people without a home. Many said that for now they are staying at hotels provided by the Red Cross, but by next week they will either have to move in with relatives, or into a shelter.
FDNY officials have said lithium-ion batteries are the leading cause of fires in the city. Last year, they were to blame for 267 fires resulting in 150 injuries and 18 deaths.
