By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

WOONSOCKET — Shelly Heldenbergh says her heart nearly stopped when she got a phone call from school officials last Friday and was told her 15-year-old son, Jonathan, was nearly set ablaze by a classmate who ignited Axe body spray with a cigarette lighter.

Before that, Heldenbergh had been completely unaware of what police say is a disturbing trend among some teenagers who use the popular body spray as homemade flamethrowers.
“As a parent I had never heard of this so I’m thinking there might be other parents out there who have no idea this is going on,” she says.
The Woonsocket mother of two wants parents to talk to their children about the dangers of starting fires with Axe before someone gets hurt.
As reported on Monday, the 13-year-year old student who lighted Jonathan Heldenbergh’s jacket on fire was arrested and charged with vandalism, disorderly conduct and possession of a weapon on school grounds.
According to police, the youth was walking down a corridor at the school and had passed Heldenbergh, who had a leather jacket slung over his shoulder. Heldenbergh told police he saw the youth direct a blast of flame toward him by igniting the spray from the deodorant with a cigarette lighter. Heldenbergh quickly removed the jacket from his shoulder and shook it to extinguish the flame. He wasn’t injured, but the flames singed two holes in the jacket.
“This could easily have turned tragic had my son been wearing the jacket and wasn’t able to take it off in time,” Heldenbergh said.
She said she was notified of the incident when school officials called her at work in Johnston that Friday morning. “I became a little hysterical and immediately drove to the school to get him. When I got there he was scared and upset.”
Heldenbergh said she is happy with the way the school handled the incident. “As soon as they found out what happened they immediately called 911,” she said.
Heldenbergh is concerned that parents might not be aware there are more than 200 videos on YouTube.com showing body sprays being ignited and used as mini-flamethrowers.
In 2007 two 14-year-old Canadian teens were playing with the aerosol cans in the changing room of an Ontario high school. While trying to create the flamethrower effect, one teen allegedly set the other on fire. The boy suffered first-, second- and third-degree burns to his torso.
“Up until last Friday, I had no idea that kids were doing this,” Heldenbergh said. “This stuff is all over the Web so if parents can block some of these sites it might be a good idea so that kids don’t get any ideas. Of not, they should take the time to talk to their kids and make sure they understand just how dangerous this is.”