Fatal Queens building fire sparked by lithium ion battery: officials

A lithium-ion battery caused the deadly blaze that killed an elderly woman living above an e-bike repair shop in Queens, FDNY and Buildings officials confirmed Sunday.

The two-alarm fire, which started on 101st Ave. near 98th St. in Ozone Park around 1:30 p.m. Friday, killed 93-year-old Kam Mei Koo.

The victim’s son, Jack Koo, said he had plugged the e-bike battery into a first-floor outlet when the device exploded.

“The problem is not the e-bike, it’s the battery,” said Koo, who owned the battery which sparked the fire. “The battery exploded.”

The fire ripped through the building and penetrated an attic space where the elderly victim lived, he added.

Buildings Department inspectors later said that the cellar was being used as an e-bike repair shop and the first floor of the two-story building had been illegally converted to add a loft-style apartment, agency officials said Saturday. Koo denied the allegations.

The Buildings Department issued Koo with two violations — one for illegal work without a permit to create the loft space on the first floor, the other for illegal occupancy on both the first floor and in the cellar.

On Saturday, building inspectors issued a full vacate order for the building after finding heavy fire damage throughout both floors of the two-story building.

Koo said that he owned several e-bikes, but that he did not operate a repair shop out of the building’s cellar and rejected claims that the building had been illegally modified in any way.

“I’m not an e-bike shop,” he said. “I don’t do that. “The e-bike I use for myself.”

The citation against Koo included a violation for an illegal electrical hookup, which carried a $12,000 fine, but Koo said he believed the battery was safe and the wiring was up to code.

“They have to inspect the battery to make sure it’s not overheating…people buy [E-bike batteries]. They don’t expect it to explode,” he said.

A family friend and neighbor said that Koo was devastated to learn that the source of the deadly fire was his e-bike battery.

“Jack loved his mother,” said Manuel Orellanna, 55. “He was destroyed when he found out what happened,”

In the first six months of 2023, 13 people died in blazes blamed on e-bike batteries, according to the Fire Department. The toll includes four people who died in Manhattan’s Chinatown in June when a fire broke out at an e-bike repair shop.

The burned Ozone Park building is across the street from the former Bergin Fish and Hunt Club, famed as a hangout for “Dapper Don” Gambino family mobster John Gotti. The club closed more than 15 years ago.

Originally Published: Aug 13, 2023 at 5:31 pm