You can buy lithium ce3lls that are "protected" and will shut off output if they are over temp or over current. Usually the are butting to cells and advertised as "protected" cells. The protection is not infallible, There are still conditions than are not going to be stopped by the protection circuit, but it does largely eliminate the fir problem. No battery technology is without the capability of starting a fire,
but all can be managed with a little thinking.
