Basseterre, St. Kitts, January 24, 2023 (ZIZ News) —Fire Officers from the St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Services have come forward to condemn a social media challenge known as the rubbing alcohol or fire challenge.
This was discussed during ZIZ radio’s programme “Fire Talk” on Tuesday.
In referencing a case that occurred in the US, Fire Sub-Station Officer, Rommel Williams explained what the challenge entails.
He said, “So, this challenge was up since 2012, it is really known as the Rubbing Alcohol Challenge but also called, the Fire Challenge. And during the research, I came across a news article, where a Spartanburg country boy, is recovering at a bone center in Augusta, Georgia after officials believe, he set himself on fire while attempting to participate in a social media-fueled dare called the Rubbing Alcohol Challenge. The challenge, which is sometimes referred to as the fire challenge, involves people dosing parts of their body in rubbing alcohol or similar fast-burning liquid and lighting it on fire while recording it.”
He also spoke of the dangers associated with participating in such a challenge.
“We want persons to understand while you feel like you just lighting one part of your body. I mean, the possibilities of you actually igniting your entire bodies are endless as long as that alcohol is still present around you. Alcohol is a flammable liquid which burns up to a thousand degrees or more. The human flesh burns at 130 degrees. Alcohol burns at almost seven times hotter than the degrees it needs to burn the skin.”
Williams added that after the fire burns away the alcohol it would then begin to burn the skin and as such performing this challenge is highly dangerous.
He asked that parents sit with their children and explain to them the dangers of taking part in these social media challenges.