{"id":8707,"date":"2025-10-17T19:15:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T19:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/8707\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T19:15:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T19:15:08","slug":"dangerous-tiktok-trend-hospitalizes-teenager-in-florida-the-fire-risk-is-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/8707\/","title":{"rendered":"Dangerous TikTok trend hospitalizes teenager in Florida: \u2018The fire risk is real\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A 14-year-old boy has been seriously injured in St. Petersburg, Florida<\/a>, after attempting to replicate a science<\/a> experiment that has gone viral on TikTok<\/a>, known as the \u201cJam Jar Pulse Jet\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to the local fire department, the boy experienced \u201clife changing injuries\u201d after he set himself ablaze while trying to conduct the experiment, leaving him with burns to his legs.<\/p>\n

Done successfully, the experiment shows how a small quantity of rubbing alcohol poured into a jam jar with a hole in the lid can be set alight, creating a pulsating flame that looks something like a miniature jet engine. <\/p>\n

However, authorities are warning people not to try it at home, due to the risk of injury. <\/p>\n

One major risk is that the flaming jars can explode, blasting fiery, liquid alcohol and shards of glass in every direction, with the potential for terrible injuries.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

The \u2018Jam Jar Pulse Jet\u2019 experiment \u2018can cause significant harm, permanently damage your vision, permanently scar you,\u2019 fire fighters warn (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cThat can cause significant harm, permanently damage your vision, permanently scar you,\u201d warned Ian Womack, division chief at St. Petersburg Fire Rescue.<\/p>\n

\u201cHeaven forbid it causes a laceration or something that causes life-threatening bleeding. But, the fire risk is real,\u201d he said, according to Fox News<\/a>. “We had a young teenage boy set himself on fire trying to do one of these challenges, and he will be faced with life-altering injuries now that he’ll deal with for the rest of his life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Setting the jars alight can produce \u201ca fire hazard, an explosion hazard, an uncontrolled event that can set a house on fire or even set a person on fire,\u201d Womack warned.<\/p>\n

The fire department made a plea for parents to talk to their children about the risks in experimenting with fire and pure alcohol. <\/p>\n

\u201cJust engage with kids and then also find opportunities to highlight the risk,\u201d Womack advised. \u201cThe risk of getting burned, the risk of setting the house on fire. So that they understand there’s real consequences with these things.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Independent has contacted St Petersburg Fire Rescue and TikTok for comment. <\/p>\n

Previous dangerous TikTok trends have included children getting burned with scalding water<\/a> while trying to make Korean-style noodles, and drinking concentrated sodas, sparking multiple health warnings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other TikTok crazes have seen children dropping heavy items<\/a> onto their feet and ranking the pain; kicking the doors of random homes at<\/a> night; and using patchily-applied sunscreen<\/a> to \u201ccontour\u201d their faces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-8707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}