Overweight landings do not pose much of a risk to passengers or crew.. an aircraft is certified to carry out (I precis here, so techies don't slam me for the figures not being spot on or given in feet-per-second) a landing at max take-off weight with a normal flare, and at max landing weight with effectively no flare, or only a marginal flare. There would be a structural inspection required following an overweight landing, which is one of the considerations a Captain has when faced with the choice; if the aircraft is on fire, then the choice is simple. Fuel dump is a luxury of time; if your crew are dumping fuel, then the imminent danger has passed... generally.
There can be a difference of many tonnes between max takeoff weight and max landing weight. Believe me, with a fire on board that wasn't going out, you would have a firm, overweight landing carried out within minutes, maximum braking (which would REALLY surprise you!) a nice trip down the slides encouraged by cabin crew who had changed personality so much you were blasted out of your stunned deer-in-the-headlights torpor and were out of the aircraft before you really knew what was going on, and then you could start worrying about the overweight portion of the problem from the grass at the side of the runway. As you know
Always plan the escape route. It isn't found on the letters page of The Times, unlike most business passengers seem to think.