I have extinguished carburetor fires a couple of times for motorists who were running their cars without the air cleaners. I wound up being out the cost of recharging or replacing my fire extinguisher, but its better than seeing someone lose his or her automobile. My dad and brother once ran out of gas and after pouring gasoline into the tank, my brother primed the carburetor with a little bit of gas. When my dad started the car, the carburetor caught fire, but the car was running. My dad floored the accelerator and that sucked out the fire.
I used to always have a fire extinguisher in the car, but I have become careless recently and don’t have an extinguisher in either car at the moment. As a side note, in the old days of carbon tetrachoride fire extinguishers, the extinguisher was useful if one drowned out the engine. Spraying the spark plug wires with the extinguisher would usually allow the car to be started.
I agree that using starting fluid or a spray of carburetor cleaner is better than pouring gasoline down the carburetor throat.