Fiery fever: Teens setting themselves on fire for instant fame!

• It all looks exciting and easy, but can leave one scarred for life.

Call it a fiery fever that's ridiculously dangerous.

More and more teenagers are taking the 'Fire Challenge' to grab instant fame on the internet. They are setting themselves ablaze and filming themselves dousing their bodies in accelerant and lighting it, a Daily Mail report said.

It all looks exciting and easy, but can leave one scarred for life.

The appalling rise in serious 'burns' cases in Wales have left medical experts and hospital staff alarmed. The insane indulgence - which began in 2014 - has reared its ugly head again. What is the 'Fire Challenge' all about? In this crazy act bordering on stupidity, youngsters are asked to pour liquid on their bodies and set themselves on fire and then post the video of the stunt to gain popularity on social media.

The bizarre self-immolation stunt has left many with life-threatening injuries, requiring surgery. Many have to be put on life-support treatment.

A warning has now been issued by Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board. It is coupled with advice to those who have taken part in any of these challenges online.

"I can understand there is pressure on young people to gain acceptance or boost their online profiles by doing such risky things as these challenges," Jeremy Yarrow, a plastic surgeon at Morriston Hospital, was quoted as saying in the report. "But from the patients I see, the results can be very different, with some requiring life support treatment and many left with lifelong scars," he added.

Trend picking up

A 12-year-old girl from Detroit, Michigan, sustained 49 per cent burns to her body while taking the so-called challenge, this August.

Timiyah Landers performed the act in front of two friends at her home, moments after her mother had made them pancakes and left the girls alone. She was somehow saved from the raging flames, and has been put on a ventilator in intensive care unit. The little girl has been bandaged from head to her knees.

Ana Biney, a staff nurse at Morriston Hospital's Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery, reportedly said: "They copy them from social media and YouTube and call them YouTube Challenges. They film each other doing the challenges and then upload them in the hope they will become social media stars."