Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Fire Marshal’s Office warns of viral teen challenge sparking electrical outlets

Screenshot of a burned electrical outlet and a burnt coin with a phone charger. (WYDaily/ Courtesy of the Newport News Fire Marshal's Office)
Screenshot of a burned electrical outlet and a burnt coin with a phone charger. (WYDaily/ Courtesy of the Newport News Fire Marshal’s Office)

The Newport News Fire Marshal’s Office is warning parents about a viral teen challenge involving a coin, phone charger and an electrical outlet.

In a video posted on the Newport News Fire Department’s Facebook page, Lt. Dwayne Adams of the fire marshal’s office, spoke about the dangers of the teen challenge which are recorded and posted on video apps such as Tik Tok.

The challenge is to use the coin and the phone charger to spark an electrical outlet, which can cause a fire.

“This is a very dangerous practice that can result in serious injury and/or property damage,” Adams said.

He said some signs of teens participating in the challenge are burnt pennies, burnt phone chargers and burnt electrical outlets with charring around the site.

Parents with questions can call the Newport News Fire Marshal’s Office at 757-247-8873.

See the full video below:

Julia Marsigliano
Julia Marsiglianohttp://wydaily.com
Julia Marsigliano is a multimedia reporter for WYDaily. She covers everything on the Peninsula from local government and law enforcement agencies to family-run businesses and weather updates. Before WYDaily, she covered Hampton and Newport News for WYDaily’s sister publication, HNNDaily before both publications merged in December 2018. Julia was born in Tokyo, Japan and moved to Long Island, New York in 2001. A true New Yorker, she loves pizza, bagels and good Chinese food. Send comments, tips and other tidbits to julia@localvoicemedia.com. You can follow her on Twitter at @jmarsigliano

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