Surgical fires: decreasing incidence relies on continued prevention efforts.

Although surgical fires are considered never events, they continue to occur. This article reports findings from an analysis of 28 operating room fire incidents submitted over a 5-year period to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System. Although incidence of surgical fires has significantly decreased since earlier reporting periods, half of the reported events resulted in patient harm. A past WebM&M commentary discussed surgical fires and how to prevent them.