What is the fire challenge on TikTok?
Unsplash: Max KukurudziakTikTok has been the source of several dangerous trends.
Two TikTok challenges involving fire have been resulting in dangerous accidents for some of the participants, leading to warnings for those who also wanted to participate in the trends.
TikTok is well known for the array of challenges and trends that have gone viral on the platform. While some of them are harmless enough, others have the potential to become dangerous, and that is exactly what’s happened in May as a result of fire-related challenges on the app.
The TikTok Chip Fire Challenge
One hack in particular that’s been garnering attention on TikTok is the ‘chip fire challenge’ which, as the name suggests, involves using potato chips, ideally corn chips, as an easy way to start a fire due to their high fat content.
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While the trick has been appearing on the internet and TikTok for a while, it has recently picked up a bit more traction, but this has led to some people taking the hack a little too far, and causing fires to get out of control.
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On May 6, a fire broke out in the chip aisle of an Auckland supermarket, after which 60 firefighters arrived on-scene to attempt to tackle the substantial blaze.
Two charged after West Auckland Countdown chip aisle fire
https://t.co/Lwt1QclU1m pic.twitter.com/xF5NfWQ9nn— nzherald (@nzherald) May 11, 2021
Police claimed they were aware of a TikTok challenge in which people set fire to chip packets, which may have explained why this particular fire ended up happening in the chip aisle.
The potato chip trick is one that has long been used by many campers, but the popularity it gained on TikTok means that more people have started diverting from the original purpose.
TikTok Hairspray fire Challenge
Another arguably more dangerous trend involves the participant spraying a shape on a mirror with hairspray, then switching off the lights and setting the shape alight.
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Heartbreakingly, a 13-year-old girl from Oregon has now been hospitalized after she attempted the challenge. She’s currently in the ICU with severe burns on her neck and arm.
The family have urged parents to monitor what their kids are looking at on TikTok, because content like this could potentially put them in dangerous situations.
These fire challenges aren’t the only dangerous TikTok challenges out there — a trend that involves using magnets as fake piercings has resulted in some people going to the hospital.
