# TikTok Flamethrower Challenge
The TikTok Flamethrower Challenge, also known as the Lighter Challenge, is a rumored dare in which a person sprays aerosol paint through a lit lighter to create a makeshift torch. It drew national attention in late April 2023 after 16-year-old North Carolina athlete Mason Dark suffered burns across roughly 80 percent of his body attempting it, though Insider later reported in May 2023 that no such trend could be found on TikTok.
## Origin
The story broke on April 28th, 2023, when WRAL News in Raleigh published a segment about 16-year-old Heritage High School football player Mason Dark, who was being treated at the UNC Burn Center after a spray paint and lighter stunt went wrong the previous Sunday[2]. According to his mother Holli Dark, friends heard a "big boom," after which Mason ran outside, pulled off his burning shirt and jumped into a nearby river to try to cool the burns[2]. Doctors later determined the injuries covered about 76 percent of his body, including third-degree burns in a T-shape on his back where his shirt had stuck to the skin[2].
Holli Dark told WRAL the stunt was tied to TikTok, saying, "I guess kids have been doing this a long time"[2]. A GoFundMe for Mason's medical costs raised more than $49,000 within a week of launch[1]. WRAL's accompanying YouTube report included footage of Mason stepping out of the river after the fire[6].
- **Platform:** News coverage (WRAL) / TikTok (alleged)
- **Creator:** Unknown
- **Date:** 2023
## Overview
The Flamethrower Challenge, also called the Lighter Challenge, describes the act of discharging aerosol spray paint across the flame of a lighter so the propellant ignites into a jet of fire[1]. Reporters tied it to TikTok in April 2023 after Wake Forest, North Carolina teenager Mason Dark was hospitalized with third-degree burns while attempting the stunt with friends[2]. News segments and tabloid write-ups treated the dare as an active social media trend aimed at teens[3].
A week after the first reports, Insider cast doubt on the premise. Journalist Kieran Press-Reynolds searched TikTok and found no circulating challenge or hashtag matching the described format, and a TikTok spokesperson said flatly that the stunt was not a challenge on the platform[4]. The spokesperson added that spray paint flame videos had existed on YouTube for roughly a decade before the Dark story broke[4].
What survived the news cycle was less a meme template than a case study in how one injury can be packaged as a trend. TikTok commentary accounts, including @baldnewsnetwork, framed the stunt as an old party trick that predated the app, saying it had circulated on MySpace and Facebook years earlier[5].
## How It Spread
National outlets picked up the WRAL segment within 24 hours. On April 29th, 2023, TMZ ran a short item framing the incident as a TikTok flamethrower stunt gone wrong[1]. FOX 32 Chicago aired its own segment the same week, interviewing Bark Technologies parenting officer Titania Jordan about monitoring apps parents could use to spot risky posts before kids attempted them[3].
TikTok commentary creators amplified the framing even as the platform denied the trend existed. On April 29th, 2023, @baldnewsnetwork posted a video telling followers that the dare had actually started on MySpace and Facebook years earlier, not on TikTok[5]. On May 2nd, Insider published its skeptical follow-up, reporting that searches on TikTok produced no evidence of a widespread challenge and that the platform already placed warnings on potentially dangerous videos[4].
After the Insider piece, media coverage of the "challenge" faded quickly. The Dark family's GoFundMe kept collecting donations through the summer of 2023, but the story settled into the familiar pattern of a moral-panic TikTok trend that was mostly built out of a single injury and a parent's quote[1][4].
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is TikTok Flamethrower Challenge?
It is a purported dare in which someone sprays aerosol paint through a lit lighter to make a short jet of flame, tied by 2023 news coverage to TikTok even though the platform denied hosting it as a trend[1][4].
### Where did TikTok Flamethrower Challenge come from?
The label took off after WRAL News reported on April 28th, 2023 that North Carolina teenager Mason Dark had burned about 76 percent of his body attempting the stunt[2].
### What does TikTok Flamethrower Challenge mean?
In practice the phrase refers to the Mason Dark injury story and the brief 2023 news panic around a supposed TikTok dare, which Insider could not actually find on the app[4].
### How do you use TikTok Flamethrower Challenge?
The term is used by news outlets and commentators to describe the April 2023 incident, not as a meme format people make posts with; TikTok commentary accounts such as @baldnewsnetwork noted the trick predated the app[5].
### Is TikTok Flamethrower Challenge still popular?
No. Coverage faded within days of Insider's May 2nd, 2023 report casting doubt on whether the challenge existed on TikTok at all[4].
## References
1. [https://www.tmz.com/2023/04/29/tiktok-flames-mason-dark-makeshift-torch-fire/]()
2. [https://www.wral.com/story/unrecognizable-wake-forest-teen-recovering-after-getting-burnt-in-spray-paint-accident/20834277/]()
3. [https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/tiktok-flamethrower-challenge-teen-hospital-burns]()
4. [https://www.insider.com/tiktok-trend-blamed-for-teens-horrific-burns-not-actually-widespread-2023-5]()
5. [https://www.tiktok.com/@baldnewsnetwork/video/7227563880929676586]()
6. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odp62E5TGlw]()
7. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/tiktok-flamethrower-challenge-mason-dark-burns]()
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Source: https://meme.com/memes/tiktok-flamethrower-challenge-mason-dark-burns
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