One person is dead after trying to put out a fire started by an electric-bicycle battery in a San Jose apartment, fire officials said.
The blaze started Friday morning in the unit on Norwalk Drive, which runs beside Highway 280 near Saratoga Avenue, the San Jose Fire Department said in a news release.
“Two people were inside when the battery in an e-bike began sparking and smoking and ignited a fire,” the department said.
One occupant fled outside, while the other tried to fight the blaze, the department said.
“That individual made it out of the apartment, but collapsed,” the department said.
A neighbor tried to save the person, described only as an adult, by starting cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but the victim had serious injuries and was pronounced dead at a hospital, the department said.
Most e-bikes and electric scooters, along with a host of other rechargeable devices, are powered by lithium-ion batteries. Battery-powered mobility devices like e-bikes and e-scooters were responsible for 65% of such fires in 2024, according to a March report by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. The report called lithium-ion battery fires a “growing problem,” with the batteries sparking nearly 200,000 structure fires in the U.S. since 2011.
In 2023, Berkeley fire officials warned that at least six fires in a short period were caused by batteries for electric skateboards, scooters and at least one bike that had been left unattended while charging.
Burning lithium-ion batteries produce thick, toxic smoke, and people should not try to fight a battery fire, the San Jose Fire Department said in the news release. Instead, they should leave immediately if a battery starts smoking or catches fire, and if possible, close doors behind them on the way out.
“When a battery ignites, escaping to safety should always be your priority,” the department said.
Fires started by lithium-ion batteries are also notoriously hard to extinguish. A massive fire involving thousands of the batteries at one of the world’s largest battery storage plants, in Moss Landing south of Santa Cruz, burned for two days in 2025.
