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Lithium-ion battery caused deadly Harlem apartment building fire, FDNY says

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Lithium-ion battery caused deadly Harlem apartment building fire, FDNY says


Lithium-ion battery caused deadly Harlem apartment building fire, FDNY says

02:56

NEW YORK — A lithium-ion battery caused a deadly fire at a Harlem apartment building Friday, according to the FDNY.

One person was killed, 17 were injured and dozens of people were displaced.

The raging fire forced dramatic and rare rope rescues.

“People was coming out of the building. The fire at the top. Side, you see the police coming down with the people, people jumping out the window,” neighbor Angie Ratchford said.

“Just what I have on me. My phone, my keys and this guy,” said Akil Jones, a resident who escaped the fire with his father.

Residents at the St. Nicholas Place apartment building were so desperate, many were forced to jump or use the fire escape, like Jones and his 85-year old dad, Emmett, who is a former Marine and retired parole officer.

“Luckily he was there ’cause [otherwise] might be a different story,” Emmett Jones said.

Emmett Jones says he was asleep while his son was cooking, but then the fire alarm went off.

“I didn’t pay no attention to it, but then I smelled the air, and I was like, ‘Maybe we should leave.’ So I went down the hallway to wake him up. When I turned back around, the whole hallway was black,” Akil Jones said. “We just gathered whatever we could, and we went out of the fire escape.”

Fire officials say 18 people were rescued. Twelve were rushed to a local hospital, where one person, identified as 27-year-old Fazil Khan, died. Four victims remain in critical condition. Police sources say two of those victims had to be intubated.

We’re told Khan was a journalist. His employer gave CBS New York the following statement: “We are devastated by the loss of such a great colleague and wonderful person, and our hearts go out to his family. He will be dearly missed in our newsroom.”


FDNY: Deadly fire in Harlem was caused by lithium-ion battery

03:05

A full vacate order has been issued by the Department of Buildings.

The Red Cross is assisting dozens of people with temporary housing at a school nearby.

Saturday, inspectors, firefighters and city officials were back at the building, assessing the damage and investigating.

Firefighters are reminding New Yorkers of the importance of keeping doors closed during fires.

“On the third floor, one of the apartment doors was left open where the fire was. The fire was so intense, if you could imagine, flames coming out that door and blocking off the stairwell,” FDNY Chief of Department John Hodgens said Friday.

An officer was able to go into the Jones family’s fifth-floor apartment Saturday to get medication out, but it’s still unclear when anyone will be allowed back in to get their belongings.

“They’re saying it’s gonna be a while because of the damage,” one person said.

In September, New York City started enforcing e-bike battery certification at retailers, which requires any mobility device using lithium-ion batteries to meet compliance standards before being sold.  

Earlier in February, FDNY Chief Fire Marshal Daniel Flynn sounded the alarm on Capitol Hill, urging lawmakers to pass legislation mandating safety standards for lithium-ion battiers.

“But if we in Congress do nothing or do too little, is it fair to say that the crisis will keep getting worse?” Rep. Ritchie Torres said.

“We cannot regulate devices that are coming into the city from surrounding areas,” Flynn said.

“So ultimately, there’s no substitute for federal legislation,” Torres said.

“Yes, we really need that legislation enacted,” Flynn said.

According to the FDNY, in 2023, lithium-ion batteries caused 267 fires, 150 injuries and 18 deaths in the city. They say as of Monday, there have been 24 lithium-ion battery fire investigations and eight injuries across the five boroughs so far this year.



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Former Bolivian President Evo Morales claims his car was fired upon in attempted assassination

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Former President Evo Morales of Bolivia claimed he survived an assassination attempt on Sunday after unidentified men opened fire on his car. He was not injured and there was no immediate confirmation of the attack from authorities.

Morales alleged the shots were fired while he was being driven in Bolivia’s coca leaf-growing region of Chapare, the ex-president’s rural stronghold whose residents have blockaded the country’s main east-west highway for the past two weeks.

The roadblocks — protesting what Morales’ supporters decry as President Luis Arce’s attempts to sabotage his former mentor and bitter political rival — have isolated cities and disrupted food and fuel supplies.

Morales, who led Bolivia from 2006 to 2019, emerged unscathed from the alleged attack Sunday, appearing on his weekly radio show in his usual calm manner to recount what happened.

He told the radio host that as he was leaving home for the radio station, hooded men fired at least 14 shots at his car, wounding his driver.

Morales was quick to blame his successor, President Arce, with whom he is fighting to be the candidate of governing socialist party in next year’s presidential election. He claimed that Arce’s government resorted to physical force having been unable to defeat him politically.

Bolivia Morales
Former President Evo Morales speaks to supporters after marching to La Paz, Bolivia, to protest current President Luis Arce, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024.

Juan Karita / AP


“Arce is going to go down as the worst president in history,” Morales said. “Shooting a former president is the last straw.”

Officials in Arce’s government did not respond to requests for comment on the incident.

Cellphone video circulating online shows Morales’ driver bleeding from the back of his head. Morales can be seen in the passenger’s seat holding a phone to his ear as the vehicle swerves and a woman’s voice shrieks “Duck!”

The footage shows the car’s front windshield cracked by at least three bullets and its rear windshield shattered. Morales can be heard saying, “Papacho has been shot in the head,” apparently referring to his driver.

“They are shooting at us,” Morales continues on the phone. “They shot the tire of the car and it stopped on the road.”

Morales’ claim deepens political tensions in Bolivia at a volatile moment for the cash-strapped Andean nation of 12 million.

In June, there was an apparent attempted coup by a rogue military general leading a rebellion, where armored vehicles and troops marched to the presidential palace and tried to force their way into the building. The rebellion retreated after Arce confronted the general, bringing the alleged coup attempt to a head, and ordered him to stand down. The general and other senior officers were later arrested.


Apparent military coup fails in Bolivia

04:28

Then, last month, Morales led a massive march against the government’s mismanagement of the economy that quickly devolved into street clashes with pro-government mobs. Imported goods are scarce and prices are rising. Drivers wait for hours to fill up at gas stations. The gap between the official and black-market exchange rates is widening.

Earlier this month, the feud between Morales and Arce moved to the courts as Bolivian prosecutors launched an investigation into accusations that Morales fathered a child with a 15-year-old girl in 2016, classifying their relationship as statutory rape.

Morales has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated and refused to testify in the case. Since reports surfaced of a possible arrest warrant against him, the ex-president has been holed up in the Chapare region, in central Bolivia, where supportive coca growers have kept vigilant watch to protect him from arrest.

President Arce accuses Morales of trying to undermine his administration to advance his own ambitions.



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Open: This is “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Oct. 27, 2024

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Open: This is “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Oct. 27, 2024 – CBS News


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This week on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance discusses Russian disinformation campaigns and the Trump-Vance ticket’s “women problem.” Plus, former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney joins.

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Full interview: GOP vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance

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Full interview: GOP vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance – CBS News


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Watch Margaret Brennan’s full interview with Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, a portion of which aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Oct. 27, 2024.

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