Dean,
Yes, Lipo's when they came out were very prone to fire's as people didn't follow charging instructions or balance them properly enough. Packs would swell and burst. Hence why Hard Pack Lipo's are now a standard for ROAR, etc. They are charge sensitive and also temperature sensitive as well.

New LiFe technology eliminates all of those problems. No balancing, no need to store in a temperature environment, etc. Also the output does not drop off like a typical Lead based battery