Calling it a “ticking time bomb” and a death trap, the New York Fire Department raided an E-Bike shop in New York Chinatown and forced it to shut down, reports PIX11.
The action comes a little more than a week after a fire blamed on lithium batteries at another e-bike shop in Chinatown left four people dead and two injured.
“Multiple fire hazards — damaged batteries, overloaded power strips,” Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said to CBS New York. “Using our thermal imaging, firefighters were able to identify the most dangerous batteries and remove them. As they were doing so, some of them caught fire.”
Kavanagh said inspectors uncovered batteries too close together, much closer than the required three feet distance. With residences above the shop, she called it “truly a death trap.”
In all, there have been 13 deaths connected to lithium batteries in New York City so far this year, according to CNN. The city set up a special task force in March to crack down on illegal charging stations, the Men’s Journal reported.
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“This is a life and death situation,” Kavanaugh continued. “Failure to comply with required safety practices can result in blood on your hands as we saw last week, and the fire department will do everything in its power to make sure you abide by the law.”
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