Two critically hurt victims died in the weeks after a fire sparked by a lithium-ion battery tore through a popular Bronx barbershop, according to local reports.
The blaze broke out in La Roka Barbershop on W. Burnside Ave. near Davidson Ave. in Morris Heights on Aug. 20, officials said.
Shantii Quinones, 39, was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and died eight days later, News12 The Bronx reported.
Two people died from a lithium-ion battery fire at La Roka Barbershop on W. Burnside Ave. near Davidson Ave. in the Bronx on Aug. 20, 2026. (Google)
“I heard the lady screaming, so I went over there,” a witness told ABC7 New York. “She was on fire. Her hair was on fire and everything like that, so I basically pulled her out the building and got her across the street to the bodega.”
Shantii, who went by her first name only, was a skilled hair-braider who worked at the barbershop. She was burned on over 90 percent of her body, according to her father, who spoke to PIX11 at a memorial in August.
“Outside of her being a great hairstylist and artistic talent, she was a confidant. She was a friend. She was a mother,” Shantii’s close friend Stephon Warner told the station.
Willy Reyes, 29, died more than a month after the blaze, his family confirmed to News12 on Monday.
The fire broke out about 9:38 p.m. and was brought under control by firefighters about thirty minutes later. It was started by a lithium-ion battery, FDNY officials say.
Shantii Quinones, who went by her first name only, died from her injuries after a lithium-ion battery fire at La Roka Barbershop on W. Burnside Ave. near Davidson Ave. in the Bronx on Aug. 20, 2026.
Four other people suffered minor injuries, according to an FDNY spokesperson.
Quinones and Reyes were both initially rushed to Jacobi Medical Center in critical condition.
Two people died from a lithium-ion battery fire at La Roka Barbershop on W. Burnside Ave. near Davidson Ave. in the Bronx on Aug. 20, 2026. (Google)