This just happened to me over the weekend, minus the fire, but seeing this made me realize how close I came to a similar disaster. In California you have to actually defeat the safety auto shut-off by pulling the sleeve up that is meant to seal against the exterior of the gas tank to "trick" the pump into thinking it's sealed, because the nozzle can't get far enough into a motorcycle tank to create the seal. I did the same thing and glanced up at the pump, and when I looked back down it was coming over the top. Slapped the gas cap "cover" shut, minus the gas cap, went straight to the bottom of the tank with paper towels to try to keep it from the headers, and then pulled the seat off to make sure I didn't have a battery compartment full of gas. Luckily I had just started my ride so my headers weren't as hot as they could have been. Embarrassing, but lesson learned minus the bonfire or trip to the ER.
