Teen burned in popular body spray stunt

Sana Qadar, Special to CTV.ca

It's supposed to be used to make you smell clean and fresh, but instead it's got many teens smelling smoke. In a phenomenon that's growing, teens are using Axe Body Spray to light themselves, their friends and objects on fire.


Sprayed over an open flame, the high alcohol content of the popular body spray easily ignites, turning it into a makeshift mini flame thrower.

The prank is so popular, social networking websites like Facebook have groups dedicated to it. A quick search on video-sharing website YouTube turns up numerous videos of teens using the aerosol cans to create jets of fire.


In one prank that turned serious, an Ontario teen was sent to hospital with first-, second- and third-degree burns and another was charged with assault causing bodily harm earlier this week.


The two 14-year-olds from Glencoe, south-west of London, Ont. were playing with the aerosol cans in the change room of Glencoe District High School. While trying to create the flamethrower effect, one teen allegedly set the other on fire. The victim was sent to hospital with burns to his torso, and released the same day.


On Friday, Axe's parent company Unilever released a statement, saying "these incidents are most troubling to us, as there is nothing more important to us than the safety and well-being of the consumers who use our products. We strongly encourage consumers to heed the warning on our packaging and use our products carefully, safely and only for their intended purpose."


Sgt. Dave Rektor of the Ontario Provincial Police in western region said the incident in Glencoe was the first in his region where charges were laid, although the OPP has been aware of such incidents since the end of the last school year.


"Although we haven't had any reported to the police, we're aware through our contacts in the high schools that these types of incidents are happening ... it seems like this is definitely an insurgence," he told CTV.ca


"It's an issue that has come to our attention really only in the last couple of weeks," Chris Dennett, spokesperson for the Thames Valley District School Board which covers Glencoe, told CTV.ca.


"Teens are very good at finding other uses for what seem to be very harmless products," he said. "If you look at YouTube ... obviously there has been a fair amount of experimentation with the product."


After a similar incident took place at Medway Secondary School in the same school district, the OPP and local burn unit held a fire safety program at that school. It's likely a similar program will be held at Glencoe District High School.


Sgt. Rektor said pranks involving aerosols and fire have been growing in popularity because students are copying what they see on Internet sites like YouTube.


"It's very alarming to us that they're looking at this as fun. This is just not fun. This is a potential for serious bodily harm or death."


On YouTube, one video serves as a kind of 'how-to' guide and features a young boy demonstrating different fire tricks with a can of Axe Body Spray.


In one trick he sprays the back of his hand with Axe and then lights it on fire. Covering his hand, he quickly waves off the flames. Next he creates a large jet of fire from the Axe can by spraying it over a lighter.


Another video shows a male teen lighting his shirt on fire. The flames cover his entire mid-section and then quickly burn out.


On Facebook, one group dedicated to the stunt is named "if this group reaches 120 people i will set my legs on fire...again." Started by a Peterborough student, the group's page links to the YouTube video of the teen carrying out his promise. "It doesn't even hurt!" he exclaims in the video, after lighting his legs aflame.


On the group's page, one teen posted a message saying, "there's nuthin ever to do in Peterborough ... its all for fun."


In another group, named "Axe + Fire = Good," one teen claimed to have lit his face on fire. Another wrote about lighting his hand on fire. "It was so cool," he said.

*CTV.ca