It's the Brian Laird Show on WNYC.

Welcome back, everybody.

I'm Matt Katz, reporter in the WNYC newsroom, and I'm sitting in for Brian today.

Fires from lithium-ion batteries used in e-bikes

and other similar vehicles have become a scourge in New York City, causing hundreds of fires

and killing 31 people since last year. The FDNY has been trying to tackle the newest fire

threat in the city through a range of enforcement measures

and with the backing of new laws from city council. And now there's a new face of that effort. Last

month, Mayor Eric Adams appointed Robert Tucker as the 35th Commissioner of the Fire Department

of the City of New York. And now we're going to get to know him a little bit and learn about

what the FDNY is up to when it comes to tackling these battery fires. Commissioner, welcome to WNYC. Thank you so much for having me. I'm really delighted to be here with Chief Flynn. Yeah, that's right. We're also on the line is the city's chief fire marshal, Daniel Flynn, who is the point person when it comes to investigating these

fires. He can walk us through some of the difficulties related to extinguishing and investigating

the blazes. Hi, fire marshal Flynn. Nice to talk to you again. Good morning. Nice to talk to you

as well. And thank you for raising awareness this important issue. Listeners, are you worried about lithium ion battery fires?

Are there e-bikes parked in your building that you're worried might explode?

Are you not sure what to do with spent e-bike batteries?

Any other questions for the commissioner and fire marshal?

Give us a call or send us a text.

212-433 WNYC 212 433-9-6-92.

Commissioner, I thought it might be nice for you to just tell us a little bit about yourself

by way of background since you're new to our listeners and to the city.

Tell us about yourself so listeners get to know you.

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