jeffhalbrecht
This Community is where folks come to ask car questions and begin discussions. I don’t know what the question is, but you have initiated a discussion. Welcome aboard!
It would help me to know what your question is, but I guess it’s really either wanting help solving the mystery or really just a general discussion.
As far as asking about this mysterious “spontaneous” car fire I doubt you’d find better answers here than those provided by the fire department and insurance company investigators. They have the actual articles involved in the fire.
Fires often consume the actual cause of the fire itself, making an accurate assessment quite difficult if not impossible.
Good luck. When and if you find out I’d appreciate you letting us know what the cause was.
P.S. Has anybody considered or mentioned the possibility that rodents could have chewed electrical wiring or fuel components?
CSA
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I suspect the OP just wanted to vent. And that’s perfectly okay. We all need to do that sometimes. Better here than somewhere that might lead to more serious problems. 
It’s useful to the community to understand how much damage a car fire can cause. So its all good & important safety info. It does sound like evidence shows the fire started in the Volvo engine compartment. What the exact fault was will probably never be known, as that evidence was destroyed in the fire. One more bit of info would be helpful in understanding what happened: how long had the Volvo been parked there in the garage unused before it started smoking & burst into flame like that?
Re: Marin
Marin is both a city and county just north of San Francisco. You may recall it mentioned back in the early 2000’s in the news. A young man from there holding what most believe to be misplaced ideals travelled to Iraq or Afghanistan to fight, but for the non-USA side. George HW Bush referred to him as “The Marin Taliban”.