Kid,
Sorry, I was going through pictures here the other day and I guess I went right through all of your pictures and into someone elses picture file. I have seen my fair share of burnt wires behind light fixtures. One of the first jobs I did with my old boss was to restore power to a 6 apt. building after a fire. The fire was caused by 2-150 bulbs inside and old kitchen light fixture.
In my neck of the woods, some of the houses in town are over 200 years old and the used Knob & Tube wiring back then. The old K&T wires was only rated 60 deg. ( I believe) and it was old RH or rubber coated wires. Every time someone asked me to change a light fixture we used to cringe just thinking about what kind of wires was in that box. How brittle was it? We also use to care shrink tube with use. We would gently slip the shrink tube over the very brittle rubber coated wires and melt it down on it. In order to hold the original rubber coating on the wire.
