Toilet fire in East Providence latest in string of social media stunts

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — A teen in East Providence was charged after a video surfaced of a student setting fire to toilet paper in a school bathroom.

It’s just the latest case in a string of dangerous stunts posted to social media by kids around the state.

The stunt at East Providence High School led to a school evacuation and a teen arrested.

“Fire can spread just like that, and it’s very, very scary,” East Providence Police Lieutenant Kurt Hawes said. “So when we saw something like that, we took it very seriously and started to investigate it.”

When the alarm went off, Hawes said officers initially thought it came from students smoking in the bathroom, then they saw the video.

“The first thoughts are this is a social media grab, right?” he said. “You want to get the views, you want to get the attention. And it’s unfortunate that happened. But the most serious thing is this is inside of a school with hundreds and hundreds of children. Anything could have gone wrong.”

Police said they arrested a 16-year-old student on Oct. 9 in connection with the incident, charging him with arson and vandalism.

While social media helped police find the culprit in this case, they are looking into whether clicks may have been a driving force in the first place.

“Social media is an algorithm and it lets you see what it thinks you want to see,” Hawes said. “But what you don’t see is the punishment that comes from it, the bad things that come from it, people getting seriously hurt that comes from it, and the families that pay a price as a result of some of these videos.”

In September, a teen was badly burned in North Smithfield after lighting himself on fire and jumping off a train trestle as part of a TikTok challenge.

In Barrington, another teen admitted to posting videos pretending to urinate around town.

“Daily, we deal with it all the time,” Hawes said. “Whether it be harassment cases or cases where they’re doing some kind of challenge.”

“The most important thing that we ask for is help from the community,” he continued. “Because it’s impossible to be able to monitor all this.”

To get out in front of incidents like this, the East Providence Police Department has made a concerted effort to get out and connect with the community, according to Hawes, who said parents also play an important role.

“Have an open dialog with your children,” he said. “Talk with them about their accounts, and ask if you can see their accounts. If they say no or if they’re trying to hide something, you know you need to ask more into it, and you might be able to find something that helps keep them safe or others safe.”

East Providence police told ABC6 the teen was no longer in their custody.

They said the punishment had not yet been decided, because the investigation is ongoing.