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The deadly blaze, which broke out early Wednesday at NYCHA’s Patterson Houses in the South Bronx, was started by an a lithium-ion battery on an electric bike, which was blocking the apartment’s exit, officials said.
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A fire that killed an 11-year-old boy in a NYCHA apartment building in the Bronx was caused by a lithium-ion battery on an electric bike, officials said—renewing concerns about the potential dangers of such devices, which have contributed to hundreds of similar blazes across the city this year.
The fire broke out early Wednesday morning in the kitchen of an 11th-floor apartment at NYCHA’s Patterson Houses in Mott Haven. While FDNY crews arrived within four minutes, the e-bike that caused the blaze “was placed in the pathway of the exit door,” according to Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore, and “made it impossible for the residents to leave safely.”
The 11-year-old boy was killed and four others were critically injured, including two teenagers.
“Today is a horrific reminder of the danger that lithium-ion battery fires can pose,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at a press conference outside Patterson Houses on Wednesday, where officials displayed the charred e-bike that ignited the blaze.
The city has seen more than 400 fires caused by lithium-ion batteries so far this year, officials said, up from 292 last year, and six New Yorkers have died in 2026 so far.
E-bikes have become increasingly popular in recent years, especially among residents who work as delivery drivers. But the batteries they run on can spark fires that are “extremely dangerous, because they spread fast and ferociously,” Bonsignore said.
“The battery cells go into thermal runaway, which makes a small fire turn into a very big fire, very very quickly,” he said.
Officials urged e-bike users to take precautions, including charging and storing the bikes outdoors whenever possible. If they do take their bike inside, they should keep it out of the way of any exit, including doors and windows, and should never charge it unsupervised.
“Buy certified batteries that come with nationally safety-certified testing laboratory approvals,” Bonsignore said. “If they are leaking, damaged, or smoking, do not use them, and do not buy off-market batteries, but use the manufacturer-recommended devices.”
NYCHA previously considered banning e-bikes from public housing properties, but officials said they recognized that many residents rely on them to get around, especially those doing app-based delivery work.
The housing authority’s current rules allow for no more than one e-bike to be charged in an apartment, and it must be kept away from means of egress, plugged into a wall, and someone over the age of 18 has to be “present and awake while the battery is charging,” said NYCHA CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt.
“We need individuals to listen and follow the policy,” she added.
Mayor Mamdani told reporters Wednesday that further reforms will be under consideration.
“I think it is our responsibility to continually evaluate every option we have,” he said. “This is an issue that we have seen far too often.”
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