Fire challenge: Emergency services warn parents over teenage viral craze after 11-year-old boy is badly burned setting himself alight

'Parents need to sit down with their youngster, whether they’re 8 or 18 and talk to them about being careful online'

A man covers himself in flammable liquid, then jumps, sets himself alight and jumps into a swimming pool to put it out (YouTube)

Emergency services are warning parents to be aware of what their children do online after a young boy suffered serious burns after setting himself on fire following an internet craze.

Oliver Sharp, an 11-year-old boy from north Lincolnshire, needed a skin graft on Tuesday after he was dared to set his T-shirt on fire. He put out the fire the first time, but the second time he became engulfed in flames.

A spokesman from the Humberside Fire Service said: “We want to warn parents about the risks and to look for warning signs.

“Parents need to sit down with their youngster, whether they’re 8 or 18 and talk to them about being careful online, including on Instagram and Twitter, and warn them about getting drawn into any dares.”

East Midlands Ambulance Service community response manager, Steve Pratten, said parents should talk to their children about the dangers of fire.

He told the Daily Mail: “Using accelerants make it uncontrollable and unpredictable.

“In one tragic incident a young boy’s life has been permanently affected. We don’t want this to happen to anyone else or for worse to happen. It is a dangerous craze.

“It defies logic and I can’t understand why anyone would want to see themselves on fire, potentially causing a danger to themselves and others.

His advice for parent is to apply cold running water on the affected area for at least ten minuites, then apply cling film to protect it.

If the child’s clothes are on fire, they should be strippe, left to cool for 15 minutes and then taken to hospital.

Part of the challenge includes timing how long it takes to put out the flames.

The craze is thought to have started in America a year ago, where some of the 'challenges' ended in fatalities.

Videos on YouTube of people doing the challenge have been viewed millions of times.