{"id":386640,"date":"2026-10-29T14:36:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T14:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/386640\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T14:36:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T14:36:14","slug":"dad-just-got-e-bike-for-work-that-sparked-bronx-fire-and-killed-young-son-heartbroken-family-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/386640\/","title":{"rendered":"Dad just got e-bike for work that sparked Bronx fire and killed young son, heartbroken family says"},"content":{"rendered":"

The e-bike that sparked the ferocious fire that killed an 11-year-old Bronx boy<\/a> and left the rest of his family clinging to life was gifted to the child\u2019s father by a friend so he could find more work and provide a better life for his family, heartbroken relatives said.<\/p>\n

But the gracious gift proved to be a deadly hazard that killed Zion Maine and left his father, two teen brothers and stepmom critically hurt.<\/p>\n

Zion\u2019s dad, Courtney Maine, 37, is in a medically induced coma in the burn ICU at Harlem Hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a hard-working man,\u201d Justin Wildman, 35, said of his brother. \u201cHe works at a car wash right down the block from where they live. He just got the bike from a friend so he could find other work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA burned e-bike is pictured after a deadly lithium-ion battery fire caused by an e-bike in an 11th-floor apartment in the Patterson Houses on Morris Ave. near E. 140th St. in the Bronx early Wednesday. (Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

\u201cHis friend saw him riding a kid\u2019s bike so he gave him the new bike,\u201d he added. \u201cThis is a real tragedy. Why is the city allowing these lithium batteries to be sold?\u201d<\/p>\n

The bike was in the kitchen of the victims\u2019 11th-floor apartment in the Patterson Houses<\/a> in Mott Haven when its battery exploded about 12:50 a.m. Wednesday, blocking the family\u2019s only exit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was placed in a spot in the kitchen that made it impossible for the residents to leave safely,\u201d FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said.<\/p>\n

\"DamageDamage to a building is pictured after a deadly lithium-ion battery fire caused by an e-bike in an 11th-floor apartment in the Patterson Houses on Morris Ave. near E. 140th St. in the Bronx early Wednesday. (Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Firefighters bravely crawled past the fire before hoses reached it to pull the five family members out. Zion was rushed by medics to Jacobi Medical Center, where he died.<\/p>\n

Maine along with his two other sons, ages 15 and 16, and his 33-year-old girlfriend were pulled from the flames and remain in critical condition at local hospitals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I could have been there when it happened,\u201d Wildman said. \u201cLike I could have done something.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family\u2019s pit bull Roscoe also died in the blaze.<\/p>\n

Compounding the heartache, Zion\u2019s mother recently died, relatives said.<\/p>\n

\"CourtneyCourtney Maine. (Facebook)<\/p>\n

\u201cZion\u2019s mother just passed away about a year ago from breast cancer,\u201d said Wildman. \u201cHe was already going through a lot. We all were. That\u2019s why Zion was living with his father.\u201d<\/p>\n

The father reposted a heartfelt message on Facebook just hours before the fire. \u201cOnce you get to a certain point in life,\u201d the post reads, \u201call you really want is God, family, stability, good health, and peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neighbors told the Daily News they were shocked by the fire\u2019s speed and ferocity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was petrified,\u201d said Kristina Diaz, who lives in an apartment next door to the victims\u2019 family.<\/p>\n

\"DamageDamage to a building is pictured after a deadly lithium-ion battery fire caused by an e-bike in an 11th-floor apartment in the Patterson Houses on Morris Ave. near E. 140th St. in the Bronx early Wednesday. (Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

\u201cMy whole apartment was filled up with smoke. My son grabbed the dish rag, wet it, put it on his face, and he tried to run out to go let the neighbors know \u2026 He couldn\u2019t make it out. It was horrible. It was pitch black. I couldn\u2019t even see out my peephole no more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now she is mourning for the child who died.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been awake since yesterday,\u201d she said. \u201cThey were trapped in the apartment. They had the bike in front of the stove \u2014 it\u2019s right by the front door \u2014 so they couldn\u2019t get out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was an immensely challenging, fast-evolving situation,\u201d Mayor Mamdani said in a press conference with the FDNY commissioner at the scene. \u201cFirefighters plunged into the fire and the smoke to rescue those who were trapped.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MournersMourners are pictured after a deadly lithium-ion battery fire caused by an e-bike in an 11th-floor apartment in the Patterson Houses on Morris Ave. near E. 140th St. in the Bronx early Wednesday. (Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Firefighters arrived at the building on Morris Ave. near E. 140th St. within four minutes, forced the family\u2019s apartment door and were met by heavy fire. They rescued one victim at the door, who was rushed to the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur firefighters then made an incredibly brave decision to crawl past that uncontrolled burning fire to conduct searches throughout the rest of the apartment,\u201d said FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito. \u201cSeveral of our firefighters put themselves at great personal risk to do that, to finish those searches and remove the rest of the victims from that apartment before we were able to put water on the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

It took just over an hour for the FDNY to bring the raging blaze under control.<\/p>\n

The FDNY has repeatedly warned against the dangers of cheap sub-standard lithium-ion batteries.<\/p>\n

\"DamageDamage to a building is pictured after a deadly lithium-ion battery fire caused by an e-bike in an 11th-floor apartment in the Patterson Houses on Morris Ave. near E. 140th St. in the Bronx early Wednesday. (Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is a horrific reminder of the dangers,\u201d Mamdani said Wednesday at a press conference at the scene of the fatal blaze. \u201cWe know that lithium-ion battery fires can start quickly and spread incredibly rapidly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lithium-ion battery fires have sparked 401 blazes citywide so far this year, with 74 injuries and six deaths, Bonsignore said. Last year saw 292 such fires with 51 injuries and one death, she said.<\/p>\n

Bonsignore urged people to store and charge the batteries outside their home if possible, to never allow them to block doors or windows, never charge them unattended, and to buy certified batteries free of leaks or damage.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe battery\u2019s cells go into thermal runaway, which makes a small fire turn into a very big fire, very, very quickly,\u201d she said. \u201cThese lithium-ion battery fires can kill you, they can kill your family, they can kill your neighbors, and they can kill our first responders. It is all our responsibility to heed the warnings.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The e-bike that sparked the ferocious fire that killed an 11-year-old Bronx boy and left the rest of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,262,263,266,85,267,9,24,264,12,63,261,265,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-386640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-city","tag-county","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-county","tag-news","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-crime","tag-sub-county-region","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}