One woman, who is on one of my quilting groups (I don't remember which one), mentioned that she had a laptop related fire on her bed. I don't recall whether it was related to the laptop itself, the power supply, an extension cord or something else. No one was hurt in this particular fire.
Some laptops run inherently hotter than other brands. For example, I had a 17" Toshiba that ran so hot that I could not use it directly on my lap. When I replaced that laptop, the heat issue was one of my top priorities -- I now have a 17" Macbook Pro which runs much cooler. Yes, I paid quite a bit more for the Mac than the Toshiba, but for me the Mac is more usable.