FDNY commissioner blames e-commerce giants for deadly battery fires

New York City’s fire chief stood outside the shell of a home where scooter batteries burst into flames Sunday, killing three people, and blamed big companies for contributing to the rising death toll from powering electric vehicles.

“The private sector can take action that would immediately save lives,” Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said Monday at a news conference at the fire scene in Brooklyn.

Online retailers continue to sell batteries that do not meet safety standards or falsely claim to do so, she said. Food delivery services have created an underground economy so profitable that despite all the department’s enforcement efforts, cheap and dangerous batteries, bicycles and scooters are still being sold, Ms Kavanagh added. When inspectors close a store that distributes these products, she says, another one pops up to replace it.

“There is blood on the hands of this private industry,” she said, naming Amazon, Walmart, Grubhub and Uber Eats as responsible.

So far this year, 17 people have died in fires related to electric vehicle batteries in New York City, a “staggering” number, Ms. Kavanagh said. Those fires brought the city’s total number of fire deaths this year to 93, marking the highest number in decades, she said.

Experts say lithium-ion batteries can be safe if produced to accepted standards. But products that meet these standards can be expensive, and current demand for affordable electric bicycles and scooters, including among many low-wage food delivery workers, is huge.

This has led to a flood of poor quality batteries that can catch fire for a variety of reasons, such as internal malfunction, using the wrong charger or excessive charging. Battery fires burn quickly and very hot, officials say, making it a challenge to fight — and escape.

The fire department has conducted public education campaigns, worked to pass local laws that strengthen enforcement, cracked down on rogue bike shops and asked the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to confiscate unsafe products.

But Ms Kavanagh said there was little more officials could do without the cooperation of e-commerce giants – she said no help was forthcoming.

“We are eagerly awaiting word from the delivery apps and online retailers who we have contacted and have not yet heard back,” Ms Kavanagh said.

A Walmart spokeswoman said the company has “zero tolerance” for fraudulent sellers or false claims and takes immediate action when notified.

A Grubhub spokesperson described the fire as a “terrible tragedy,” but added that the company was surprised and disappointed by the commissioner’s comments.

“We have always sought to create a safer, more sustainable environment in New York City and have supported several initiatives to promote fire safety and access to certified equipment,” said spokesman Patrick Burke. “We stood with the FDNY and city officials earlier this year to commit to increased fire safety education and outreach.”

An Uber spokesman, Josh Gold, said the company agrees with the commissioner that online retailers should stop selling electric bikes that are not certified to industry standards, and has urged the city to impose a small fee food deliveries to help the industry transition to certified bicycles. .

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

There was no indication that the scooters whose batteries are believed to be the cause of Sunday’s fatal fire in Crown Heights were used for deliveries.

Three generations of a family died in the rapidly spreading Sunday morning. Lithium-ion batteries from two scooters had caught fire on the first of three floors and engulfed the front of the house, officials said. The victims were identified as Albertha West, 81; her son, Michael West, 58; and her grandson, Jamiyl West, 33.

Firefighters arrived within minutes and encountered a wall of flames, officials said. They managed to get snakes inside, but were unable to quickly reach the victims. One was found on the second floor. A firefighter reached the third floor from a structure at the back of the house and pulled two others out, but it was too late.

“People couldn’t get out even under the best of circumstances,” said Chief John Hodgens, the fire department’s top uniformed officer. “So it was a very tragic outcome of a very difficult operation for our members.”

The Wests had lived in the late 19th-century home since the 1970s, when they moved there from South Carolina, a neighbor said Sunday. He said Mrs. West, the family matriarch, drove herself to church every week and held barbecues in the backyard.

On Monday, the contents of the house, now hollowed out and partially boarded up, were piled up in front of the door.

Daniel E. Flynn, the city’s chief fire chief, said the department found two standing scooters. They were badly damaged, as were their batteries, so it was impossible to distinguish the brands of the products or whether the batteries were charging when they caught fire, he said.

As television crews filmed Monday, fire department workers pulled out the two blackened, broken scooters and dumped them on the sidewalk.