I had something similar happen to me in a Datsun 180B once. Driving home in the rain, and the tail light wires were submerged in water that was pooling in the

I had something similar happen to me in a Datsun 180B once. Driving home in the rain, and the tail light wires were submerged in water that was pooling in the trunk and shorting out. As I put my foot on the brakes - on the freeway in the pouring rain - the fusible link in the engine bay decided to just catch on fire instead of being a fusible link. The battery quickly boiled and I had a sudden and catastrophic engine bay fire on a crowded road. A car battery has enough amps to literally use as a welder (two jumper leads, an arc welding rod and a 550CCA car battery is enough to stick most things together in an emergency :P ), and is more than enough to create a massive fire.