By Sherwin Prior, CEO/Co-Founder, Juise Mobility
On August 29, 2026, an 18-year-old resident died after a fire — likely sparked by an e-bike’s lithium-ion battery — tore through the Albany Houses in Crown Heights, Brooklyn (NY Daily News). It’s a devastating reminder of a risk playing out in communities everywhere, not just this one building.
Property managers carry a heavy, often invisible burden: keeping every resident safe, whether the property is commercial, a multi-family community, or a university residence hall. Over the past five years, that job has grown harder. Private e-bike and e-scooter ownership has exploded faster than the infrastructure built to support it, and indoor-charging battery fires have reached epidemic proportions — destroying property, injuring residents, and displacing families and students from their own homes.
But safety was never meant to be a one-person job. Just as “if you see something, say something” reshaped public safety, it belongs in community living too. Every resident who charges a device, spots a frayed cord, or notices a battery charging unattended in a hallway has a role to play.
The real obstacle usually isn’t awareness — it’s access. Most property managers still haven’t given e-device owners a safe alternative to charging indoors, so risky habits stay the default.
Property managers and riders share the community.
That’s where the opportunity opens up. Beyond outdoor charging stations, communities can build device safety into move-in orientation, offer charging incentives, train resident safety liaisons, host trade-in or swap events for damaged batteries, and pair every station with an easy way to report hazards. Renters’ insurance and lease addendums can reinforce the message further.
At Juise Mobility, we believe safety scales when infrastructure and shared responsibility move together — turning every rider into an active steward of their building, not just an occupant of it. Give people the right tools, and they’ll use them to protect the community they live in..
About Juise Mobility Juise Mobility builds outdoor charging infrastructure for micromobility — e-bikes, e-scooters, and other personal electric devices — serving multi-family communities, university campuses, and private fleets. Its Juise Bar and Juise Pack charging stations, paired with device-registration and compliance software, are deployed across nine states, giving property managers and residents a safe alternative to indoor charging and turning fire risk into a shared, manageable responsibility.