Home fires are still pretty prevalent in the United States. According to data from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), fire departments across the country responded to 328,590 home fires between 2019 and 2023, many of which had devastating consequences.
Common causes of these fires, according to the association, include “cooking, heating equipment, electrical distribution and lighting equipment, intentional fire setting, and smoking materials.”
One TikTok user showed exactly what this kind of disaster can do to a home but also pointed out one unexpected item that appeared to survive. She says it’s enough to make you think twice before eating it.
What Food Item Survived The Home Fire?
In her clip, which has garnered over 1.4 million views, creator @bongwadder calls out what she says managed to survive.
“Ummm, just saying, the Cheetos survived,” she says, filming some charred Cheetos while the rest are still intact, orange, and inside the bag, on top of a burnt kitchen counter. “So maybe we… nobody should eat Cheetos.”
She puts it in contrast with the rest of the house.
“‘Cause this is what the rest of the house looks like,” she says.
She then pans the camera across the place, showing completely blackened structures, windows that have exploded, a ceiling that has melted, a floor covered in ash, and more.
“After seeing that, it’s just a suggestion,” she adds in the video’s caption.
Why Won’t The Cheetos Burn?
From reports online, it seems the opposite is actually true. Cheetos are often considered a “highly flammable” food product due to their high fat content.
According to a Reader’s Digest report, they can even be used as a fire starter in place of wood during a campfire.
In one YouTube experiment, for example, a single Cheeto burned for nearly a full minute once lit.
A more likely explanation may have less to do with the Cheetos ingredients themselves and more with how fires behave. According to fire experts, house fires don’t burn evenly, creating hot spots and cooler zones.
This means the Cheetos may not have fully ignited based on where they were sitting on the counter.
Additionally, there are no ingredients in Cheetos that would make them resistant to fire. If anything, the combination of fats and carbohydrates makes them more likely to burn, not less.
Commenters Find It Entertaining
In the comments section, while viewers were horrified about what happened, they quipped jokes about the bizarre Cheetos situation.
“Orrr orrr hear me out … we overload our body with Cheetos,” one user jokingly suggested. “And we are flame resistant!!”
“Were they Flamin’ Hot?” asked another.
A third shared their own Cheetos story. “Our entire house got mold, except the bowl of cheetos that was left for months…” they wrote.
Another commenter pointed to a bigger issue. “So were at the point that before we consume food, we need to see if it molds or burns first…..excellent,” they wrote.
BroBible has reached out to PepsiCo, the parent company of Cheetos, via email and @bongwadder via TikTok messages for comment.