I've got a bone-headed one for you that my son pulled on my electric stove a few years back.
He put a pot of water on to boil for spaghetti and turned the burner on high and left the kitchen. One problem -turned on the wrong burner and there was an empty pan sitting on it. Before too long - this miserable acrid smell was filling the house and the smoke alarms were blasting. I walked in to the kitchen to see this empty pot glowing red - as well as the drip pan under the burner. Grabbed both with tongs (the aluminum drip pan was melted out of shape) and tossed both out the back door and turned the hose on them. That was too close for comfort for me.