The FDNY on Wednesday announced a new effort to prevent fires caused by lithium-ion batteries.
The department received a $100,000 donation from Grubhub, DoorDash and Uber.
The FDNY says it will use the money to help promote fire safety outreach and support the public education campaign to prevent fires caused by e-bike batteries. FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh says those batteries have been blamed for 67 fires and five deaths so far this year.
"We know that we need to work together to help in our safety messaging to ensure that the public is informed of best practices when it comes to using micro-mobility devices. We will continue to work with federal, state and local partners to look for solutions and spread awareness until this is no longer a danger to the city," Kavanagh said. The FDNY says they've been aggressively educating the public on the dangers of these batteries and on how to safely own and operate e-bikes.