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| At Least 38 Injured in High-Rise Fire in Manhattan | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Firefighters, using ropes and dangling off a high-rise in Midtown Manhattan, rescued a woman who was trapped in a fire that injured at least 38 people on Saturday, officials said. | |
| The fire at 429 East 52nd Street was caused by a lithium-ion battery in an electric bicycle, the authorities said. The unit where the fire started had at least five e-bikes, Chief Fire Marshal Daniel E. Flynn said. Officials believe that a resident of the apartment repaired bikes. | |
| About 200 fires in New York City this year have been caused by lithium-ion batteries, resulting in six deaths, he said. These batteries are found in micro-mobility transportation such as electric bikes, scooters and hoverboards. The fires caused by the batteries are typically intense, and can quickly gain momentum with any combustible objects around them, officials said. | |
| A sign outside the apartment complex read, “No pedal or e-bikes allowed beyond this point.” Fire officials said any device that used the powerful lithium-ion batteries could cause a risk, not only those in bicycles. | |
| In a dramatic moment caught on video and posted on social media, firefighters rescued a woman from a 20th-floor apartment where officials said the fire started. Firefighters pulled the woman through a shattered window on a floor below. One other person was rope rescued from this unit. | |
| Of those hurt, two were in critical condition, five were in serious condition and the rest had minor injuries, fire officials said. | |
| They said they were still compiling information about the people injured, as well as the number of people who were displaced, who will receive help from the Red Cross. | |
| Officials said lingering questions around whether there had been safety issues — whether there was or should have been a fire alarm; whether doors were left open, feeding the fire; whether fire protection and planning at the building were adequate — would be part of their investigation. | |
| Residents described a scene of confusion and uncertainty about what had happened. | |
| Riley Jankowski, 23, said she smelled smoke and initially thought her apartment complex had turned the heat on. | Riley Jankowski, 23, said she smelled smoke and initially thought her apartment complex had turned the heat on. |
| It wasn’t until she heard fire trucks, she said, that she opened her window blinds, saw smoke and realized the threat. | It wasn’t until she heard fire trucks, she said, that she opened her window blinds, saw smoke and realized the threat. |
| At about 10:30 a.m., she ran out of her apartment on the sixth floor and banged on her neighbors’ doors, yelling “Fire!” | At about 10:30 a.m., she ran out of her apartment on the sixth floor and banged on her neighbors’ doors, yelling “Fire!” |
| “I run down the stairs, and as I’m running out on the courtyard, the window bursts and glass flies around as I’m on the phone with my mom screaming for my life,” she said. | “I run down the stairs, and as I’m running out on the courtyard, the window bursts and glass flies around as I’m on the phone with my mom screaming for my life,” she said. |
| Allie Gold and Grant Rosenberg, both 26, left their 10th-floor apartment when they smelled smoke and saw it billowing out of a window. | |
| “The alarm didn’t go off, but it seemed like everyone got the memo and started going out,” Mr. Rosenberg said. | |
| Along with Samantha Wilker, 30, a friend who was visiting, and their dog, Norman, they went down the stairs as firefighters were coming in. Upon exiting the building, the three saw windows pop above them. |