Lots of good information has come and gone on this thread, almost to the
point of paranoia on some parts :-) It only makes sense to take care of
the fuel lines on any vehicle as old as our machines.

As an observer, I conclude that the worst issue we face is the time it
takes for the driver to realize that there is a fire to be dealt with. Our
friend in NYC mentioned that others saw the smoke and maybe flames and
were frantically trying to get his attention. By the time someone outside
realizes the problem, and decides to take action to let us know there is a
fire, I its probably already too late to do much with a few fire
extinquishers. Those  who have reported their own experiences seem to be
split between those who did catch it early and got it out, and those who
got to it too late, with a horrific result.

Just as in any other fire issue, prevention is top priority, but warning
is second. We don't usually install halon extinguishers in our homes, but
we always, I hope, have alarms and monitors that will alert us, to smoke
and flames, and then we grab the extinguisher, call for help, or do
whatever we can to control and put out the fire.

The conclusion is that logically, we need smoke and fire detectors to give
us a head start on grabbing our extinguishers and fighting what would
hopefully then be a localized fire that we can control. Who will come up
with smoke and flame detectors that we can install in the engine bay, to
alert us the instant a fire begins to burn? I think that is the way to go
that makes the most sense.

Just IMHO.

John