FLASH FIRE Lauren Wargo suffered second-degree burns on her face and neck as a result of a surgical fire 7 years ago.

Most of you will never experience a surgical fire. "Thank goodness," says Lauren Wargo, 27, who 7 years ago suffered second-degree burns on the left side of her face and neck when surgery to have a mole removed from her right eyebrow ended in a flash fire. As is the case with many surgical fires (see "Surgical Fire Q&A" on page 60), highly flammable pure oxygen was the culprit in Ms. Wargo's fire.

When her plastic surgeon activated the electrocautery device, the anesthesia assistant didn't adjust the oxygen level or turn off the supply of oxygen flowing into Ms. Wargo's face mask. In the presence of oxygen, the Bovie caused a spark that caught her hair, face and draping on fire. The face mask's plastic tubing melted to her neck and chest.

Of the 3 elements of the fire triangle — a fuel or combustible material, an ignition or heat source, and enough oxygen to support combustion — it's that invisible element, pure oxygen, that does the most damage.

"Alcohol gets much more attention because everyone knows it's flammable, but the more important issue is oxygen and how easily it allows things to catch fire and burn faster and hotter," says surgical fire expert Mark E. Bruley, CCE. "Alcohol's role is overrated. Oxygen's is underrated."

Ms. Wargo's week-long medical malpractice trial in 2009 was marked by finger pointing. The surgeon blamed the anesthesia assistant for not stemming the flow of oxygen when he activated the Bovie. The anesthetist claimed she didn't hear the surgeon. The jury found the surgeon to be 100% responsible for the fire, exonerating the anesthesia assistant.

"It was a miscommunication," says Ms. Wargo, who was awarded $872,000 for her pain and suffering and $425,000 in punitive damages. On appeal, the award was capped at about $300,000. After medical bills and her attorney's 40% take, she received a check in 2012 for about $100,000.

"It was never about the money," she says. "It was about figuring out what happened and getting the apology, which I never did get from the doctor. It took years of my life away to get over this."

Ms. Wargo's facial scars and discoloration have healed remarkably well. She suffers from severe dry eye in her left eye; her tear duct scarred over and her eyelid doesn't close all the way. "It's funny — I never knew surgical fires were possible," she says. Don't you make the same mistake.