Captainron,
It may not have been the charging of the battery that caused the fire. I had a 7.4V Lipo in a P-38. A buddy said lets go fly and I was going to take my F-16 and needed a battery for it. My P-38 has been sitting for a few months and I thought I would take its pack for the day. I opened the battery compartment, unplugged the battery and as I was lifting it out of the plane it literally went CHINA SYNDROM NUCLEAR MELTDOWN in my hand. I threw it out on the driveway and it was amazing how hot and spectacular display of fire!! I have 3 personal friends that lost homes & vehicles due to LIPO fires. LIPO'S CAN NOT BE TRUSTED PERIOD in my opinion. I'm sure you will get a lot of guys defending lipo's because they never experienced the lipo fire but their days are #'d as well. I would rather use a NMH or NICD battery before I ever trusted a LIPO again. I was fortunate to be home when that thing melted down or I would have lost a house as well I'm sure. I have not heard of LIFE issues and all my planes are ran with LIFE batteries until I hear they go into melt down mode.
Sorry for your loss,
Dirk