E-battery inferno
Device-fueled fire doomed Brooklyn kin
The massive blaze that killed members of three generations of a Brooklyn family over the weekend stemmed from a lithium-ion battery used to power an electric scooter owned by one of the victims, FDNY officials said Monday.
The ignited battery created a “wall of fire” that made it extremely difficult for residents to escape 242 Albany Ave. in Crown Heights — where the three-alarm blaze erupted shortly after 4:30 a.m. Sunday, killing matriarch Albertha West, 81, her son Michael West, 58, and grandson Jamiyl West, 33, the FDNY said.
“The volume of fire we see from these batteries creates untenable conditions both for residents to get out, but also for [FDNY] members to get in,” Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said at a news conference announcing the cause of the inferno.
The three West relatives were pulled from the three-story home and initially hospitalized with critical injuries before being pronounced dead later Sunday.
FDNY chief’s anguish
At least 14 other people were also injured — including one firefighter who suffered serious but non-lifethreatening injuries, and was recovering at home Monday, FDNY officials said.
“This was a difficult and dangerous fire that drew a massive response from our members and seriously injured one of our firefighters,” Kavanaugh said.
The lithium-ion battery was found “extensively damaged” in the home, the FDNY boss added.
The scooter belonged to one of the victims killed in the fire, according to Chief Fire Marshal Daniel Flynn.
Two scooters were found on the ground floor, where the blaze erupted, Flynn said.
“I would bet very much that the West family thought when they bought this device that it was safe,” Kavanagh added. “The single greatest thing we could do is make sure that unsafe devices can’t be sold.”
She referred to the devices as “ticking time bombs” that the city has “gone above and beyond to address” — but argued that the private sector is not doing its part.
“There is blood on the hands of this private industry, both from the online retailers who continue to sell these illegal devices to this day. And from the food-delivery apps who continue to think that this problem will solve itself,” she said.
“We cannot and we will not stand by while the industry does nothing to solve a problem that lies squarely at their feet and that they can do something about today,” Kavanagh added.
Neighbor Jason Thompson told The Post Sunday that he awoke in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and saw smoke pouring through the bricks of his home.
“I started yelling, ‘Get out!’ ” the dad, 44, said. “I have four kids, ages 4 through 18, so I was just focused on getting everybody out.”
Thompson said he’s known the family — including Albertha, a grandmother beloved by all on the block — for 40 years.