By Amanda Woods The New York Post
A 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, the FDNY said.
At least 14 other people were also injured in the conflagration — including one firefighter who suffered serious but non-life-threatening 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 that used the powering device belonged to one of the victims killed in the fire, according to Chief Fire Marshal Daniel Flynn, who did not specify which one.
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.”