Donna Ohl wrote:
What exactly was burning in the fire? If the element failed, I could
see it getting very hot, arcing, maybe some small flames around the
element itself. But beyond that, for there to be any substantial
fire, you need a fuel source.

It was all just metal.

As you can see from the pictures, the element is blistered just in one six
inch spot ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaohl/2923845900/ and you can
see the GE oven heating element is broken in another spot not far away (
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaohl/2923845906/ )

How could the oven elemeent be "arcing" if it was an open circuit?
Hi,
Not open yet but cracked. It could arc. Element is easily replaceable
and even HD or Lowe will have universal type one. Just make sure get one
with same kind of connector.