E-scooter sparks deadly NYC fire, killing 69-year-old resident trapped in his apartment: FDNY

A 69-year-old man was killed when a blaze sparked by a lithium-ion battery trapped him inside a Brooklyn apartment Wednesday morning, according to the FDNY.

The elderly man died and two others were injured in the 3:40 a.m. fire that broke out inside the second-floor apartment on Brighton 3rd Street near Brightwater Court in Brighton Beach, where the faulty battery powering a scooter burst into flames, officials said. 

The intense flames and heat from the device blocked the exit of his unit in the building, according to FDNY Chief Fire Marshal Daniel Flynn.

A 32-year-old woman and 35-year-old man who were also home at the time were hospitalized after they tried to douse the flames — a risky move when dealing with a battery fire, according to Flynn and police. 

“So they attempted to extinguish the fire [and] they were able to escape with minor injuries,” Flynn said. “There were two children as well that self-evacuated that did not sustain injuries.

“I strongly recommend you do not attempt to extinguish these on your own,” the FDNY official added. “Your conventional fire extinguishers will really not be as effective as they would be in other fires.”

One firefighter was also taken to the hospital with minor injuries, officials said.

A dozen FDNY units, including 60 firefighters and EMS workers, responded to the scene.

“When lithium-ion batteries ignite, it’s a much more serious, much more involved fire,” FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito said. “Thankfully, our firefighters were quickly able to stretch hose lines and extinguish the fire before it spread to additional apartments and throughout.”

To make matters even more dire, the smoke detector had been removed from the apartment, according to Flint.

The fire was extinguished by around 4:30 a.m., officials said.

“I would say that we were kind of lucky that we were able to do that as quickly as we did, considering the heavy fire condition, with minor injuries,” Esposito said.

The elderly victim, whose name has not yet been released, marks the fourth death in a fire stemming from the dangerous devices so far this year – down from 14 at this time in 2023, FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker said.

“We’re messaging that lithium-ion batteries that are unregulated, that you’re buying in places that are unregulated, kill people, and we appreciate the public hearing us, and we will not stop,” Tucker said. “Although deaths have decreased because people are listening, this is number four, and it’s too many, and I will not stop talking about unregulated lithium-ion batteries and the dangers that they cause until we’re at zero.”

A partial vacate order was issued on the building Wednesday, because of “severe fire, water and smoke damage throughout,” according to Department of Buildings records.