Teen suffers severe burns after attempting deadly social media fire stunt

A 14-year-old girl suffered severe burns after attempting a dangerous fire stunt on February 27. The incident involved isopropyl alcohol and appears linked to a social media challenge. Emergency services rushed her to a specialist burn centre for urgent treatment.

The teenager tried to 'spit fire' using rubbing alcohol when the flames engulfed her face, neck, and chest. Firefighters arrived quickly, but she required intubation due to the severity of her injuries.

Pittsburgh Fire Chief Tommy Dick later warned against using rubbing alcohol for such stunts. He called the girl fortunate, as the fire could have spread further or caused worse harm. Authorities suspect the stunt was part of a viral online challenge.

Over the past two years, no official US statistics have tracked serious injuries from similar attempts. While isolated videos appear online, agencies like the CDC or CPSC have not recorded centralised data on these incidents.

The girl remains under medical care after the accident. Fire officials have repeated warnings about the risks of flammable liquids in unsupervised stunts. Her case highlights the ongoing dangers of social media-driven challenges involving fire.