E-Bike Battery Fire Blocks Only Exit of Bronx Apartment: Four Family Members Die, Father Critically Hurt
The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) confirmed that at about 12:50 a.m. on October 28, a fire broke out in an 11th-floor apartment at the Patterson Houses public housing complex in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx, New York City: the lithium-ion battery of an e-bike stored in the kitchen caught fire, and the flames blocked the apartment's only exit, trapping the family of five inside. Firefighters forced the door and rescued the occupants, but 10-year-old Zion Maine died after being taken to hospital; by October 30, three more of the injured had died, raising the death toll to four.
The four victims were members of one household: Zion Maine, 10; his two half-brothers, aged 15 and 16 (the 16-year-old was identified as Jamaree Adam); and the older boys' mother, Syida Adam, 33. Zion's father, Courtney Maine, 37, is the only survivor and remains hospitalized in critical condition. The family's dog also died in the fire.
Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said on the morning of the fire that the e-bike had been placed in the pathway to the exit door, in a spot in the kitchen that made it impossible for the residents to leave safely. FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito said firefighters had to force open the apartment door, which was blocked by the burning battery and bike. According to relatives, the e-bike had recently been given to Courtney Maine by a friend who hoped it would help him find more work beyond his job at a nearby car wash; family members said Zion had dreamed of becoming a football player.
Bonsignore also said lithium-ion batteries had been linked to 401 fires across New York City so far this year, causing 74 injuries and six deaths, figures given on the day of the fire. The blaze was brought under control in just over an hour, and the cause of the fire and the origin of the battery remain under investigation.
Source: New York City Fire Department
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：起火公寓所在的纽约布朗克斯 Patterson Houses 公共住房（资料图）。照片 CC BY 4.0，作者 Jim Henderson，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Patterson Houses public housing complex in the Bronx, New York, where the fire occurred (file photo). CC BY 4.0, by Jim Henderson, via Wikimedia Commons.
