SALISBURY -- An 8-year-old Rowan County boy is being treated for severe second-degree burns after trying to recreate something his friends saw online.

According to the Salisbury Police Department, three kids were playing outside a home on Second Street and were trying to create a flash, by spraying perfume and lighting it with a lighter.  When the kids tried to do it, a child in the group caught fire, burning his face, neck and arm on his left side. 

Police say it happened Wednesday morning around 7:30 a.m. before the kids went to school.  They say they got the idea from a YouTube video. 

"We see more and more of it and it's just like on television even years ago you see wow the person who gets hurt gets up and walks off at the end. In reality that doesn't always happen.  Just having communication with your children is the key,” Captain Sheila Lingle says.

A relative at the home was able to put out the fire. 

The child was taken to Baptist Medical Center for treatment. Police are still investigating the case as well as DSS.