Lithium Battery Fire Injures Five at Bronx Barbershop

A fire ignited by a lithium-ion battery injured five people, two of them critically, at a Dominican-owned barbershop in the Bronx late Thursday. The blaze required a two-alarm response from the New York City Fire Department (FDNY).

The fire broke out around 9:40 p.m. at La Roka barbershop on West Burnside Avenue in the Morris Heights neighborhood, an area with a significant Dominican community presence. Authorities reported that a 29-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman were rushed to a hospital in critical condition.

Three other men, aged 49, 51, and 52, were also transported to medical facilities and were reported to be in stable condition. Images from the scene showed the interior of La Roka completely destroyed by flames. The adjacent Ming Wong Chinese restaurant also sustained damage.

Firefighters remained on the scene Friday morning to assess the damage. Two electric scooters outside the establishment were also damaged. The FDNY investigation concluded that a lithium-ion battery was the cause of the fire. A witness, Travis, recounted hearing a woman inside screaming and then seeing her hair on fire as he helped her escape the building.

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I heard the lady screaming, so I went over there. She was on fire, her hair was on fire and everything, so I basically pulled her out of the building and took her to the other side of the street, to the bodega.