Fire investigators are blaming a lithium-ion battery for sparking a massive 5-alarm inferno that tore through a supermarket in the Bronx.
The fire took off around 10: 40 a.m., triggering a response from approximately 200 firefighters to the Concourse Food Plaza on Sunday. Huge plumes of thick smoke filled the sky, visible from miles away.
Mayor Eric Adams and top FDNY brass said the origin of the raging fire was a battery-powered scooter, caught on video igniting inside the store.
"The video is chilling. When you saw how fast this fire started and spread, it just really gives you a point of pause," Adams said at a press conference, as crews continued to extinguish hotspots some five hours after the fire started.
The scooter and battery being blamed for the complete destructive of the store, which was open when it caught fire, was carted out during the briefing.
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"This charred scooter is only a symbol of what is happening behind and what has continued to take place since early this morning. We are still fighting a fire because of the type of device that the fire started from," Adams said.
In total, officials said seven people suffered injuries. Five of the responding firefighters were hurt, as well as an EMS member and Con Edison worker, FDNY officials said. All were expected to be OK.
The charred remains of the e-scooter will be inspected as part of the fire department's investigation to see what exactly caused the battery that powers the device to explode.
Battery-sparked fire continue to pose a challenge for city officials. As of late February, lithium ion batteries used to power electric bicycles and scooters had sparked 25 fires that caused 36 injuries and two deaths in the city.
Many of the fires blamed on the batteries have been caused by malfunctioning devices left to charge overnight and placed in a hallway or near a door where they can trap people inside a burning apartment.
In 2022, lithium ion batteries were the cause of 216 fires.
