Syracuse, N.Y. — A failure of an e-bike battery caused the fire that killed a man in an illegal Syracuse boarding house in June, city fire officials said.

The victim was William R. Clark, 79, of Syracuse, said Capt. Erik Caster, a spokesperson for the department.

Investigators found a series of code violations in the remnants of the fire, including deadbolt locks on the inside of bedroom doors, officials said.

Investigators ruled the fire to be accidental, Caster said. The fire was caused by a failed lithium-ion e-bike battery in a first-floor bedroom.

The death was avoidable, Fire Chief Michael Monds said on the day of the fire. Responding firefighters encountered multiple code violations inside the home that hindered firefighters and potentially life-saving efforts, Monds said.

The city’s codes office confirmed the violations. The property owner was illegally renting out individual rooms in the home, and many doors had deadbolts that limited movement inside, said Jake Dishaw, deputy commissioner of codes and zoning for the city.

There are no specific regulations in Syracuse that prohibit bringing e-bikes into homes or residential structures, said Sol Muñoz, a spokesperson for the city. Discussions are under way at the state level on laws governing the storage and charging of these batteries, she said.

Earlier this year, firefighters from Utica highlighted the dangers of e-bikes in apartment buildings when a battery caught fire on the 12th floor of a complex.

New York City’s housing authority established a policy in 2024 limiting e-bikes in apartments because of the potential for fires.

Firefighters were called to the scene at 2407 S. State St. at 9:17 a.m., June 25, after a fire was reported with someone potentially trapped inside.

First-arriving firefighters encountered heavy smoke and fire shooting from the house, Monds said then.

Firefighters entered the home through a second-floor window and found an unconscious man in the hall, Monds said. The man was later pronounced dead.

No one else was hurt. Four people were displaced, according to the American Red Cross.

“The way this house was situated, that person didn’t have much of chance, even with our great firefighters,” Monds said at the scene.

He highlighted that in structures without permits, first responders do not know who they are looking for or where to look. Monds said there was confusion about how many people were in the home. He had been told by some residents that everyone got out safely, while others said someone was still inside.

The home had been illegally operating as a boarding house, Dishaw said. That meant the owner was renting out individual bedrooms without proper zoning and code permissions.

The owner, Lamar Kearse Sr., had illegally converted two first-floor rooms into bedrooms, Dishaw said. The building was a single-family home that should have had only four bedrooms, all on the second floor.

There were also deadbolts on bedroom doors throughout the house, meaning many of the rooms could only be unlocked from one side, which was a code violation, Dishaw said.

The home did have working smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms, Caster said.

The deadbolts and extra rooms in the home had all been installed by the tenants staying there, Kearse told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. The tenants were all people who worked for him, and one was a friend of theirs, he said. He said he visited the property multiple times a week.

Kearse owns more than 10 one- and two-family residences in the city of Syracuse, according to Onondaga County property records. He said the workers staying on State Street helped with work at other properties.

The home had not been inspected for at least 10 years, Dishaw said. Kearse had filed for a family-based exemption, saying he was renting the home to a direct family member, which exempted him from inspections otherwise required every three years.

Family members had previously stayed at the home, but were not anymore, Kearse said.

Kearse said he does not own a rental registry certificate that allows him to be a landlord in the city. However, he does rent to family members, which he can do under the family-based exemption.

“It was a very tragic incident,” Kearse said. “Of course, I’m still bothered by it.”

Kearse received code and zoning violations for the illegal use of the property and locks, Dishaw said. He also received a violation for the fire damage.

The city has not yet pursued action against Kearse for the violations, Dishaw said. He could face further penalties if he does not start to repair the home to get it back in working order and in compliance with regulations.

For now, the home still shows heavy fire damage and is unfit for occupancy, Dishaw said. It will need heavy restoration work.

“The city wants this structure back online, we want to see a full repair and get it occupied the way it’s supposed to be,” Dishaw said.

Dishaw said his office uncovers a few illegal boarding houses a year, but never before in the context of a fatal fire.

Kearse said he expects the house to be torn down, but is awaiting further conversations with insurance agents.

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