Bronx apartment fire that injured 10, caused by a lithium-ion battery: FDNY

MANHATTAN - At least 10 people, including six firefighters and four civilians, have suffered minor injuries after a three-alarm fire broke out at an apartment building in Marble Hill at around 2:20 p.m. on Monday. 

In the early stages of the investigation, the FDNY tried to rule out e-bikes as a cause. The fire department said the fire started underneath the staircase on the first floor where e-bikes were found but not batteries. 

The FDNY now says that an e-bike frame & battery remnants were found under the 1st-floor stairwell where the fire originated, trapping residents and forcing others to use the fire escape.

The fire then quickly spread from the first floor all the way to the top floor making its way into apartments on all four floors of the building. This left several tenants trapped and forced elderly people to attempt to get out from the fire scapes. 

"These old-style buildings with the wooden staircase, you get a decent amount of fire going, a nice fire load, it shoots right up," Chief of Special Operations Malcolm Moore said. "On arrival, units had fire coming out of the bulkhead, basically the door at the roof level, and it went straight up." 

Firefighters responded in less than 3 minutes and removed residents from the fire escapes. 

Based on the location of where the fire broke out, the windy conditions did not impact the fire as much as it could have and first responders were able to contain it to the inside of the building. The fire was placed under control at 3:40 p.m.

There are two apartments on each floor of the 4-story building. All 26 tenants are displaced and the Red Cross was on scene assisting them. 

This story is developing. Stay with FOX 5 for updates.