By Gus Saltonstall
Two people were hospitalized after a fire broke out Sunday night on the Upper West Side, an FDNY spokesperson confirmed to West Side Rag.
The flames ignited around 9 p.m. at 21 West End Avenue, between West 60th and 61st streets, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said that the pair received major burns from a “portable charger fire, and were taken to the Weill Cornell Medical Center. FDNY did not state the conditions of the victims.
ABC 7 reported that the two people injured were a mother and child who were burned after a lithium-ion battery cellphone charger caught fire inside their apartment.
In recent history, lithium-ion battery fires in New York City have been more connected to those used to power electric vehicles. In 2024, there were 171 fires in the five boroughs linked to lithium-ion batteries, which caused 59 injuries and three deaths.
Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here.
Scary, I hope they both make a full recovery asap
Gale Brewer will turn this into a whole event on lithium ion batteries, while remaining silent on the recent assaults only a few blocks away.
There was also a lithium ion battery (used to charge a cell phone) fire on 111th and Amsterdam last week as well. I don’t believe anyone was hurt, but the whole building was evacuated, and we could smell the smoke a few buildings away.