Three fires have occurred in four days at the same electric bike shop on the Lower East Side.

Early Tuesday morning, a fire broke out inside HQ E-Bike Repair, killing four people and critically injuring two others. On Thursday night, a pile of bikes was seen burning on the sidewalk. And on Friday, firefighters attended to a third fire inside the shop.

What You Need To Know

  • Early Tuesday morning, a fire broke out inside HQ E-Bike Repair, killing four people and critically injuring two others

  • Several lithium-ion batteries were seen smoking before catching on fire Friday evening outside the same repair shop

  • FDNY leadership recently announced a new public education initiative meant to prevent more deadly fires

  • So far this year, there have been 110 fires caused by lithium-ion batteries citywide, resulting in 13 fatalities

“Once again, smoke is coming out of the building, so I guess something else is on fire," said Gilbert Dipiano, who lives nearby. "They had another small fire across the street there just a day ago. Now, it’s something else happening. It’s very scary.”

Exclusive video taken by NY1 shows several lithium-ion batteries smoking before catching on fire Friday evening. Members of the FDNY were clearing out the shop before the blaze started, removing damaged bikes, charred batteries and other debris.

“You gotta be precautious because you never know when a fire can break and with these e-bikes. People are afraid in the area now. They’re afraid to live above one, so people need to be more precautious in the area now," Dipiano said.

That message was echoed by FDNY leadership, who recently announced a new public education initiative meant to prevent more deadly fires.

“New Yorkers should call if they see things like batteries being charged less than three feet apart, more than five batteries being charged at once, using multiple extension cords to charge them, batteries that look like they’ve been tampered with and businesses that look like they are not properly licensed businesses," Chief Fire Marshal Dan Flynn said.

Fire officials are vowing to respond to these reports with more urgency than ever before.

“We’ve instructed our members to respond forthwith," Flynn said. "If a unit is out on a fire, they’ll respond as soon as possible. Those complaints, we pledge to everyone, will be handled, addressed in some way in 12 hours.”

Fire officials say the HQ E-Bike Repair shop has been on the department’s radar, with violations dating back to 2021.

The business was inspected as recently as last year and received multiple summonses.

So far this year, there have been 110 fires caused by lithium-ion batteries citywide, resulting in 13 fatalities.