A 14-year-old boy has been seriously injured in St. Petersburg, Florida, after attempting to replicate a science experiment that has gone viral on TikTok, known as the “Jam Jar Pulse Jet”.
According to the local fire department, the boy experienced “life changing injuries” after he set himself ablaze while trying to conduct the experiment, leaving him with burns to his legs.
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.
However, authorities are warning people not to try it at home, due to the risk of injury.
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.
“That can cause significant harm, permanently damage your vision, permanently scar you,” warned Ian Womack, division chief at St. Petersburg Fire Rescue.
“Heaven forbid it causes a laceration or something that causes life-threatening bleeding. But, the fire risk is real,” he said, according to Fox News. “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.”
Setting the jars alight can produce “a fire hazard, an explosion hazard, an uncontrolled event that can set a house on fire or even set a person on fire,” Womack warned.
The fire department made a plea for parents to talk to their children about the risks in experimenting with fire and pure alcohol.
“Just engage with kids and then also find opportunities to highlight the risk,” Womack advised. “The risk of getting burned, the risk of setting the house on fire. So that they understand there’s real consequences with these things.”
The Independent has contacted St Petersburg Fire Rescue and TikTok for comment.
Previous dangerous TikTok trends have included children getting burned with scalding water while trying to make Korean-style noodles, and drinking concentrated sodas, sparking multiple health warnings.
Other TikTok crazes have seen children dropping heavy items onto their feet and ranking the pain; kicking the doors of random homes at night; and using patchily-applied sunscreen to “contour” their faces.
