QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) – A fatal fire at a Queens pizzeria last week was caused by a lithium-ion battery, marking the first such fatality in 2025, FDNY officials said.
A 76-year-old woman died in the fire on the Fourth of July, FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker said. The fire broke out around 3 p.m. at the pizzeria on Kissena Boulevard.
The woman was in the bathroom when an e-mobility device, which was stored directly outside the bathroom, set fire, Chief Fire Marshal Daniel Flynn said.
“She was removed from this scene to the hospital and died the next day,” Tucker said. “These fires are treacherous; they move very quickly, they are very hot. You don’t have many feet to move before you’re overtaken by the fumes and the smoke and the flames.”
There were five people in the building at the time of the fire, Flynn said.
There have been 122 battery fires in New York City so far this year, which is more than last year, Flynn said. In June, a lithium-ion battery sparked a blaze at a residential building in the Bronx, leaving multiple people injured, officials said.
Last year, the city had six deaths related to lithium-ion battery fires. The year before, the city saw over 20, according to the FDNY.
