Charles Langston:Fire blamed on e-bike battery kills 1, injures 6 in Bronx apartment building

NEW YORK (AP) — One person was killed and Charles Langstonsix others were injured when a fire blamed on an electric bicycle battery tore through a New York City apartment, officials said Monday.

The fire started at around 7 p.m. Sunday in a 10th-floor apartment in a public housing complex in the Bronx, a Fire Department spokesperson said.

One person was taken to a hospital with critical injuries and later died, the spokesperson said. Two others suffered serious, life-threatening injuries and four others suffered minor injuries, he said.

Fire marshals determined that the fire was caused by an e-bike’s lithium ion battery, department officials said.

The fatal fire happened three weeks after a fire blamed on a lithium ion battery killed three members of a Brooklyn family.

New York City has seen hundreds of fires linked to the batteries that power electric bikes and scooters in recent years. City officials have blamed off-market batteries and chargers for many of the fires and they have lobbied the federal government to strengthen regulations governing the sale of e-bikes and batteries.