A 69-year-old man was killed when a blaze sparked by a lithium-ion battery trapped him inside a Brooklyn condo Wednesday morning, in keeping with the FDNY.
The aged man died and two others have been injured within the 3:40 a.m. hearth that broke out contained in the second-floor condo on Brighton third Road close to Brightwater Court docket in Brighton Seaside, the place the defective battery powering a scooter burst into flames, officers stated.
The extraordinary flames and warmth from the system blocked the exit of his unit within the constructing, in keeping with FDNY Chief Hearth Marshal Daniel Flynn.
A 32-year-old lady and 35-year-old man who have been additionally house on the time have been hospitalized after they tried to douse the flames — a dangerous transfer when coping with a battery hearth, in keeping with Flynn and police.
“So that they tried to extinguish the fireplace [and] they have been capable of escape with minor accidents,” Flynn stated. “There have been two youngsters as properly that self-evacuated that didn’t maintain accidents.
“I strongly advocate you don’t try and extinguish these by yourself,” the FDNY official added. “Your typical hearth extinguishers will actually not be as efficient as they might be in different fires.”
One firefighter was additionally taken to the hospital with minor accidents, officers stated.
A dozen FDNY models, together with 60 firefighters and EMS employees, responded to the scene.
“When lithium-ion batteries ignite, it’s a way more severe, way more concerned hearth,” FDNY Chief of Division John Esposito stated. “Fortunately, our firefighters have been rapidly capable of stretch hose strains and extinguish the fireplace earlier than it unfold to extra residences and all through.”
To make issues much more dire, the smoke detector had been faraway from the condo, in keeping with Flint.
The fireplace was extinguished by round 4:30 a.m., officers stated.
“I might say that we have been form of fortunate that we have been ready to do this as rapidly as we did, contemplating the heavy hearth situation, with minor accidents,” Esposito stated.
The aged sufferer, whose title has not but been launched, marks the fourth loss of life in a fireplace stemming from the harmful gadgets up to now this yr – down from 14 at the moment in 2023, FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker stated.
“We’re messaging that lithium-ion batteries which are unregulated, that you simply’re shopping for in locations which are unregulated, kill individuals, and we admire the general public listening to us, and we won’t cease,” Tucker stated. “Though deaths have decreased as a result of persons are listening, that is quantity 4, and it’s too many, and I cannot cease speaking about unregulated lithium-ion batteries and the risks that they trigger till we’re at zero.”
A partial vacate order was issued on the constructing Wednesday, due to “extreme hearth, water and smoke harm all through,” in keeping with Division of Buildings information.
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