Two dead, 2 injured after lithium battery sparks fire in Manhattan apartment

A fire sparked by a lithium-ion battery in a New York City Manhattan apartment building on Sunday took the lives of two people and “critically injured” two others, authorities say.

The fire started around 1 pm at 565 W. 190th Street in Fort George and while original reports suspected that the blaze was sparked by lithium-ion batteries stemming from an e-bike, FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh revealed that those allegations are false, New York Post reports.

Kavanagh confirmed that the cause of the fire was lithium batteries found inside the apartment unit, not from an e-bike that was staged outside the building during the time of the tragedy, according to the outlet.