13-Year-Old Girl in ICU After TikTok Fire Challenge

May 31, 2021

Another TikTok challenge has sent an unsuspecting teen to the hospital. According to KPTV, 13-year-old Destini Crane was attempting to replicate a TikTok “mirror on fire” challenge video on May 14 when she caught on fire. She is now in the intensive care unit of an Oregon hospital with third-degree burns on her neck and right arm.

Doctors have performed a tracheostomy and three skin-grafting surgeries on Destini. Destini’s sister, Andrea Crane, has set up a GoFundMe to cover medical costs. According to fundraiser updates, Destini’s condition is improving and will hopefully be moved to the burn unit soon.

Andrea says that the girl was filming with a candle, lighter, and bottle of rubbing alcohol in their bathroom when the bottle exploded. Everything in the bathroom caught on fire, including Destiny.

She also said that a friend was over during the incident.

“Her friend was yelling, she was filming TikToks, she was filming TikToks. There was a capped bottle of alcohol sitting on the counter, and the whole side of it had busted open, and there was a lighter and broken candle,” Andrea said. “So, that’s just kind of the conclusion we came to.”

Although Destini is unable to speak, her family assumes she was imitating a “mirror on fire” challenge. Destini’s mom said her daughter “lived for TikToks” and her phone was still recording footage when they found her.

TikTok Fire Challenge

The videos from which the challenge originated shows @jackjerry spraying hairspray on a mirror and lighting it on fire. He does so in various shapes requested by commenters.

https://www.tiktok.com/@jackjerry/video/6953694743096315141?sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6968549985378944517&is_from_webapp=v1&is_copy_url=0

It is one of eleven or so in a series of “mirror on fire” challenges. Although several of @jackjerry’s “mirror on fire” TikToks are reposts, less than half of them have a content safety warning.

Failure to flag dangerous content can lead to incidents like this, especially as more impressionable youth attempt to follow social media trends. Although all users can report content, it is ultimately the content creator’s responsibility to include warnings.

https://www.tiktok.com/@jackjerry/video/6952175173617437957?sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6968549985378944517&is_from_webapp=v1&is_copy_url=0

Still, preteens and teens may choose to ignore content warnings. Destini Crane’s family and friends urge parents to monitor their kids’ content, “because they can put themselves in dangerous situations without realizing it.”