The Rye Fire Department found an abandoned e-scooter with a smoking battery last week, as a surge of micro-mobility devices being seen across town are becoming a concern.
The city’s Public Works Department notified the Rye FD after employees noticed a smoking e-scooter in the back of a garbage truck, according to fire Lt. Max Billington, who responded to the emergency call on Aug. 26. When firefighters arrived, Billington said it was no longer actively emitting smoke – but that it still had a burning smell.
The fire crew was able to completely isolate the batteries safely and contain them, the department said online.
“Once [e-batteries] get damaged they can’t get fixed,” Billington said.
Dumping micro-mobility devices with these e-batteries – such as e-scooters and e-bikes – is illegal in New York state, as of 2010, when the state passed the NYS Rechargeable Battery Law. And defective batteries, like the one in last week’s incident, can cause fires and even explosions.
Billington said he knows e-battery emergencies are becoming more common in other places, but said he’s only aware of one other e-battery call in Rye.
However, the incident also comes as e-scooter and e-bike complaints in Rye are “increasing exponentially,” according to Rye police, who have indicated they average about two complaints per week of reckless micro-mobility driving.
Regulating micro-mobility devices with e-batteries has been a hot-button issue in New York in recent years, as more and more blazes have started because of their batteries.
In 2022, Fordham University instituted a ban on lithium-ion battery-powered vehicles altogether, including on its campuses in Westchester, the Bronx, and Manhattan.
And former Westchester County Executive George Latimer, in 2023, signed into law legislation that only allowed the sale of regulated and graded lithium-ion batteries in micro-mobility devices. The law also required establishments selling devices with these batteries to display safety notices.
Then county Board of Legislators Chair Vedat Gashi said the timing was ripe to address the alarming issue over e-bike batteries.
“Because the global micro-mobility market is projected to grow … to $215 billion by 2030, due in large part to the sale and use of battery-powered electric devices of all types, the time to act on regulating lithium-ion batteries is now,” Gashi said.
But e-battery blazes have continued even after the countywide law went into effect – one of the most recent being a New Rochelle apartment fire started after a damaged e-scooter battery exploded.
Billington said people with e-battery powered devices must always use the proper charger, be careful not to over-charge the battery, and they shouldn’t try to fix an e-battery or buy a new one if they notice its been damaged.
The Rye Fire Department is also reminding residents to dispose of damaged e-batteries legally. In Westchester, residents can take their defective e-batteries to the county’s Household Material Recovery Facility in Valhalla, or contact its Department of Environmental Facilities.
“Ensuring proper disposal of these types of batteries is essential to help minimize the potential risks they inherently contain,” the department posted to social media after the incident.
