It sounds like you've got some wiring that's out of order. You were probably pretty lucky. I've seen a couple of pictures on Pennocks where fires started in the ECM area and burned the car.
Oh Believe me, I had the fire extinguisher right beside me. :-)
I'm not afraid of it catching, I had my 84 catch back in the day and I saved it. I do plan on getting one more extinguisher to mount in the front trunk area for extra protection but the one I have would prolly do the trick.
As for the wiring, I really don't know what could cause it(Maybe old circuit, maybe not). Except for my Fuel pump, that is now hot wired, all my wiring is stock and not messed with that I have seen. Everything is good. I think it could be bad grounds, so last night I went around and polished up the grounds and relocated my extra ground from the top of the intake to the side of the motor where the original ground is. If there was a grounding issue, I should have over corrected it now. :-)
I'm gonna fix the ECM's and try to correct the issue with one of these before trying to install another from a salvage ECM. Trial and error-hopefully will get it fixed again. I hate my wiring being rigged the way it is for the fuel pump, but I have to drive it. It's currently my daily driver.