Life sometimes hands us stark reminders that everything can change in an instant. The small, seemingly insignificant decision to pop into a restroom at a pizzeria in Queens, New York, cost grandma Yuet Kiu Cheung, her life. The Sunnyside resident was in the area doing some shopping with a friend when the pair decided they’d stop for lunch on July 4, 2025.
At one point, she got up to go to the bathroom. While she was in the bathroom, an e-bike used for deliveries that was stored next to the bathroom burst into flames. Cheung was trapped inside the bathroom.
Her son, Tommy Ou Yang, told New York Daily News that she was a “very loving” mother and grandparent.
“My mom always mentioned that pizzeria is pretty decent,” Yang noted before recalling what the friend she was with her told him about the incident. “She wanted to use the restroom before she left. She went inside the bathroom. After about maybe a minute there were three explosions and then there was some type of weird smell that she does not know how to describe. But it was a weird smell and all of a sudden the black smoke comes out.”
Unfortunately lithium-ion battery fires spread extremely quickly and burn very hot. By the time Cheung escaped the bathroom, the flames had engulfed the restaurant. Cheung had to run through the fire to get out of the building. She was overcome by smoke, collapsing before she could reach the exit. It took FDNY an hour to get it under control.
Yang told the outlet that there was no excuse for storing the batteries inside the restaurant, and FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker agreed.
“These devices can be extremely dangerous,” Tucker said. “We have been working so hard to put out the message that e-mobility devices do not belong inside. You can’t charge them inside and must buy a certified UL (Underwriters Laboratories) battery.”
Cheung is the first death at the hands of a lithium-ion battery explosion this year. In 2024 however, six people in New York city alone died from e-bike or e-scooter fires.
