JOHANNESBURG – A dangerous new trend known as “chuffing” is spreading among school learners in Gauteng, where youngsters are inhaling the toxic contents of fire extinguishers and sharing videos of the practice on social media.
The alarming trend shows learners deliberately inhaling fumes from portable fire extinguishers and exhaling smoke, with videos of the dangerous practice circulating widely across social media platforms.
Videos show younger learners participating in this activity, often in groups, treating it as a form of recreational drug use.
A screengrab from a social media video shows the dangerous ‘chuffing’ trend among learners. Medical experts warn that inhaling fire extinguisher contents poses severe health risks.
Fire extinguishers contain toxic substances, whether dry chemical powder or carbon dioxide, that are designed to suppress fires, not for human consumption or inhalation, warns Robert Mulaudzi, spokesperson for the City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (Joburg EMS)
Severe health risks identified
Mulaudzi says smoking or deliberately inhaling the contents of a fire extinguisher is extremely dangerous and can lead to serious health issues, including respiratory distress, seizures and potentially death.
“Your fire extinguisher is a fire safety device which is not designed for human consumption or inhalation,” Mulaudzi said. “It can cause serious respiratory distress.”
Medical experts warn that the substances inside fire extinguishers can also cause pneumonia.
The high pressure discharge from fire extinguishers poses additional risks, including physical injury or even explosions if the devices are misused.
Social media fuelling dangerous behaviour
The trend appears to be spreading through social media platforms, where videos of learners participating in “chuffing” are being shared and potentially encouraging others to copy the dangerous behaviour.
Mulaudzi said the emergency services are concerned about videos circulating on social media platforms where younger school learners are seen inhaling or smoking contents from portable fire extinguishers.
The viral nature of such content has raised concerns about copycat incidents as more young people become exposed to the practice online.
Mulaudzi emphasised that fire extinguishers are important life-saving devices designed to help put out small fires quickly and prevent them from spreading. In schools, they play a critical role in protecting learners, teachers, and school property during emergencies.
“We are pleading with our school learners to refrain from smoking or deliberately inhaling contents of a fire extinguisher and also pleading with parents out there to ensure that they educate young people to refrain from inhaling contents of a fire extinguisher,” he said.
The Motor Industry Staff Association has also expressed alarm over the trend, with chief executive officer of operations Martlé Keyter calling it “life threatening” and urging parents to talk openly with their children about the risks.
Calls for intervention
Authorities are calling for urgent intervention to stop the trend before more lives are endangered. Parents are being urged to educate their children about the dangers of inhaling fire extinguisher contents and to monitor their social media activity.
Schools are encouraged to invite public education officers to conduct safety programmes.
Mulaudzi said Joburg EMS has a public education unit that provides life and fire safety educational programmes.
“We are inviting our communities out there to invite our public education unit, so that our officials can come into our schools to educate our school learners about life and fire safety educational programmes,” he said.
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