Add Fuel to the Fire.

To make a bad situation worse by doing or saying something that increases anger or conflict.

When you add fuel to the fire, your actions or words intensify a problem instead of helping to resolve it.

It is used when someone accidentally or deliberately makes a tense situation more heated.

• When an argument escalates because someone makes a sarcastic comment
• When a company's response to criticism makes the public reaction worse
• When someone brings up an old grievance during an already tense moment