An electric scooter battery sparked a fire that killed an 8-year-old girl in New York, according to authorities. The death of Stephanie Villa Torres on Saturday It was at least the third time in just over a year that a deadly fire in the city has been linked to a scooter battery.
Saturday’s fire broke out around 7:30 a.m. at a Queens home, a police spokesman said. Stephanie was found unconscious and was pronounced dead at a hospital. The girl’s father and her 18-year-old brother were treated for burns and smoke inhalation, according to authorities.
A fire department spokesman said the fire was caused by a lithium battery from an electric scooterone of many fires blamed on electric scooter and bicycle batteries in New York City in the past two years.
A woman and a 5-year-old girl died Aug. 3 in Harlem from a fire attributed to a scooter battery, and an electric scooter-related fire killed a 9-year-old boy in Queens in September 2021.
