A 76-year-old grandmother in Flushing became New York City’s first victim this year to die in a fire caused by an exploding lithium-ion battery, FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker announced Tuesday.
The victim was having a late lunch at a Singa’s Famous Pizza, located at 43-69 Kissena Blvd., at around 3 p.m. on the Fourth of July, when she went to the bathroom and became trapped inside when an e-bike that was charging in a vestibule just outside the door erupted into a wall of flame.
“These fires are treacherous. They move very quickly. They are very hot, and you know, you don’t have many feet to move before you’re overtaken by the fumes and the smoke and the flames,” Tucker said during a press briefing in front of the pizzeria on Tuesday.
Firefighters extinguished the two-alarm blaze, and five people who were inside the restaurant were able to make it out after the lithium-ion battery exploded. The 76-year-old victim managed to escape the bathroom before she was overcome. EMS rushed her to New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where she was listed in critical condition but succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead on Saturday.
“These things take off very, very quickly with a blow torch effect,” Chief Fire Marshal Dan Quinn said. “She went to the bathroom for one minute. She was trapped because the device was stored directly outside the bathroom. It’s a tremendous tragedy.”
Structural fires caused by lithium-ion batteries are up so far in 2025 compared to 2024, but fatalities have decreased since the FDNY began public service announcements in recent years, urging users of mobility devices to always charge the lithium-ion batteries outdoors.
“We had six deaths last year, over 20 the year before, and now we have our first this year,” Tucker said. “One is too many, and I will not stop talking about safety around lithium-ion batteries and e-mobility devices until the number is zero.”
A delivery worker had parked his e-bike in the vestibule and was charging the battery before heading out for his next delivery.
“We want people to understand these things are dangerous,” Quinn added. “[But] they’re tremendously convenient to our communities, for our delivery drivers. We support that industry, and we don’t want to hurt that industry, but we just want to make sure people are using them safely, and that is the main message here, the main takeaway. We feel for the family of the victim and for the business owner as well.”
