A new viral TikTok trend is encouraging teens to set their laptops on fire, a trend that is causing multiple evacuations in schools across the United States.
Called the #ChromebookChallenge, the trend suggests that teens insert paper clips and pins into the charging port of their laptops, causing a short circuit that almost always leads to a fire.
Newington High School in the state of Connecticut reported an evacuation last week after a student’s laptop caught fire, emitting toxic gases into the air.
“The room was filled with smoke at the time of the fire. The batteries, once burned, essentially catch fire, producing this toxic smoke,” said Newington Fire Chief DJ Zordon, according to NBC Connecticut.
But Connecticut wasn’t the only place to report “mysterious” fires after the trend went viral. Schools in California, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and Washington have issued alerts about the trend.
“It’s more than just a trend. It causes a lot of disruption. The school has to be evacuated, firefighters respond to the station and then to the site, consuming resources that could be used for other emergencies that might be happening at the same time,” Zordon added.
Photo and video: TikTok. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
