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Some prepping agents used during surgery are volatile and extremely flammable, more so than many other fuels. For example, liquid alcohol from a wet, dripping prep can pool under the patient. As the alcohol evaporates, vapors are generated that can collect beneath the drapes. These concentrated alcohol vapors trapped under drapes, or in areas still wet with alcohol, can be easily ignited by heat or sparks. Prep solutions containing an alcohol/iodophor mixture are also extremely flammable. Some of these mixtures contain as much as 74 percent alcohol. Other flammable agents include tinctures, which contain alcohol, and skin degreasers such as acetone. In ECRI's surgical fire update published February 2006, alcohol-based surgical preps were reportedly involved in 4 percent of surgical fires.

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