ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An e-bike battery is being tied to a fire at an Orange County hotel Monday.
Crews responded to InTown Suites on University Boulevard Monday morning. The State Fire Marshal is investigating, but the fire rescue says the fire “does seem to involve an e-bike battery.”
A woman, who asked not to go on camera, told Spectrum News 13 that the fire started in her room. She said that she woke up to her e-bike battery smoking, and it exploded right after she moved away from it.
No injuries were reported.
Briana Hyde and her family were staying down the hall when the fire alarm went off.
“We could see the gray smoke, you could just see a gray fog,” she said.
Hyde owns a bike and said that she’s aware of the fire risks. She follows her manual closely.
“It’s very important to focus on these two things: the battery and the charger itself,” she said. “Make sure that when you plug your e-bike in, the battery is not overheating.”
Battery explosions are a growing problem for e-bikes. The Consumer Product Safety Commission published a 2024 report finding fires related to the lithium ion batteries used in e-scooters, hoverboards, and e-bikes were tied to 40 deaths between 2017 and 2023.
At Orange Cycle in College Park, owner Howard Larlee is well aware of the problem.
“The fire safety issues for e-bike batteries are a big problem in the industry,” he said. “Fires happen, either people using the wrong equipment, substituting the wrong equipment, or God knows what.”
Larlee said that all his products are UL-certified. UL Standards & Engagement is a nonprofit safety organization. A study they did find that from 2019 to 2023, e-mobility fires caused $518.6 million in loss and damage in New York City alone.
“A lot of brands being sold to consumers online are very inexpensive, there’s no replacement parts quickly available, servicing them is an issue,” said Larlee.
Orange Cycle has been in Orlando since 1972, but Larlee only started selling e-bikes about 10 years ago. He says the most common issue he sees is people trying to save money and buy their e-bike cheap, but he said that you should buy from a reputable source who can also service your bike.