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A Wisconsin couple was electrocuted while preparing to film a video of a dangerous art technique known as fractal wood burning, which is popular on TikTok. The method involves using an electrical current to burn a design onto a piece of wood that has been soaked in a chemical.
Firefighters found the bodies of 44-year-old Tanya Rodriguez and 52-year-old James Carolfi in the remains of a house fire on April 6 at their Marathon County home. While investigators initially suspected foul play, they determined that the couple died before the fire started and ruled their death and the fire was accidental.
Officials said that the wood-burning equipment started the fire in the garage, which quickly spread to the rest of their home.
Marathon County Chief Deputy Chad Billeb cautioned others about the dangers of fractal wood burning, which involves repurposing a high-voltage transformer from a microwave or a car battery.
"It's a very dangerous process where you take a microwave oven apart, and you remove the power supply from that microwave oven, and you run it through jumper cables through nails that are in a board," Billeb said. "So you can see the potential danger that's there when your working with the power supply of a microwave."