RE Fire in the garage:
That's why I like the way my house is setup - seperate garage about 10 steps or so from the back door of the house. Plus here in NYC all "New build" garages (since the 60s I think - but a long time anyway) have to be either brick, block, or concrete construction - aka TRUE fire resistant. If seen cars burn in them - you usually loose the door, the roof, and anything IN the garage, but even in apartment houses (where there are multiple garages) you usually don't loose the next garage

(Note for folks who don't know NYC - a LOT of NYC is single family houses on 40-60x100-120 lots (approx), although 60x120s are fairly rare)