What's driving the battery fires with e-bikes and scooters?
E-bikes, scooters and other "micromobility devices" have soared in popularity — and the number of fires sparked by their rechargeable batteries is up, too. Here's how to keep yourself safe.
As firefighters battled a five-alarm fire at a supermarket in the Bronx earlier this month, New York City officials gathered beside what they said was the cause of the fire: the blackened shell of what was once a sit-on electric scooter.
Officials said that a faulty lithium-ion battery in the scooter had suddenly burst into flame, as captured on surveillance video. The resulting fire was so intense, they said, that it enveloped the building in a matter of minutes.
"There is extraordinary damage. This entire building behind me is completely destroyed. The roof is caved in. There is nothing left. And it is all because of this one single bike," said Laura Kavanaugh, the city's fire commissioner.
Last week's blaze joined the more than 200
