New York City Lithium-Ion Battery Fires Pass 400 in 2026
New York City has recorded more than 400 fires caused by lithium-ion batteries so far in 2026, with 83 injuries and 12 deaths, The Guardian reported as of 14 November. In all of 2025, the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) logged 292 such fires, 51 injuries and one death.
Lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable power packs used in many devices, including electric bicycles, or ebikes. Several of this year's deadliest incidents have involved them.
In late October, four members of a family, including an 11-year-old boy, died in a fire in an 11th-floor apartment at the Patterson Houses, a 13-story public housing building in Mott Haven, in the Bronx. The building is part of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), the city's public housing agency. The fire started in the kitchen. FDNY determined that its cause was a lithium-ion battery from an ebike, which had been placed in the kitchen in the path of the exit door, preventing safe exit.
FDNY received the call about 12:50 a.m. and had the fire under control by 2 a.m. Thirty-eight FDNY units with 120 fire and emergency medical personnel responded, and fire and EMS units arrived in less than four minutes. After the fire, only the apartment where it began was required to be vacated, city officials said at a press conference.
In November, a fire at a home in Brooklyn killed six people and injured nine others, including three firefighters and two police officers. Investigators found lithium-ion batteries at the scene but had not determined whether they caused the fire.
The problem extends beyond the city. In 2025, 2.2 million ebikes were imported into the United States, double the number imported three years earlier.
New York City's Department of Transportation ran a pilot in 2024 that hired companies to offer battery-swapping cabinets, where delivery workers could exchange depleted batteries for charged ones. Participants completed more than 12,000 swaps over six months, and their charging of batteries at home fell by 35%.
Building on that work, the city has announced plans to install 25 public e-bike battery-swapping charging sites. Installation is not expected to begin until 2027, after the city gathers feedback on where the sites should go, how they should be designed and how they should be run.
