Fire chief Jason St. Onge met with business owners on historic Mackinac Island in late April to warn them about the potential threat of electric bike battery fires, urging them to take action to reduce the threat to iconic buildings that simply can't be replaced.

"Almost all fire chiefs are concerned," St. Onge told the Detroit Free Press. "There's so little data on why these things are malfunctioning. I'm being as proactive as I possibly can, reading everything I can find. These battery fires are breaking out all across the country. They're catastrophic. These fires are killing people." The island had two e-bike battery fires last year, St. Onge said. An e-bike battery incident in July in the Harrisonville section of the island burned a home and put the homeowner and two firefighters in the hospital. The homeowner was charging the battery in the kitchen, St. Onge said.

Yet island bike rental shops continue to see a growing appetite for e-bikes, he said. Motorized vehicles have been banned on the island for more than a century. But not motorized bicycles. The island is governed by the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, a governor-appointed board.

"If Keurig coffee makers were doing this, no one would buy one. You'd say, 'I'm not having that son of a (expletive) in my house," St. Onge said. "I mean, I can't stop you from bringing stuff into your home. But this is just mind-boggling to me."