There are a few different types of LiPo batteries, and my impression is that some of the newer ones are much less likely to spontaneously combust than older ones - even with the trials of r/c use. I recently tried puncturing the battery from a dead PicoZ type helicopter (cheap £10 micro-helicopter) and... Nothing happened. I also had a small 850 mAh 3s battery where one cell died and the others got way overcharged. I disposed of it safely in a glass of salty water, but was pleasantly surprised that it hadn't already blown up - a few years back there would probably have been fireworks.
I'm not sure quite how popular LiPo batteries are in laptops - a while since I looked into them and at that time Lithium Ion types or LiFe were more popular and these are much more difficult to provoke.
Although LiPo fires are quite fierce, they are brief and probably don't release much more energy than an exploding cigarette-lighter - even for quite a large battery. I wouldn't be surprised if it were possible to deal with one burning up in the passenger compartment, but the cockpit (as in a light aircraft) might be another matter.
On the other hand, an UPS air-freighter may have been brought down by a LiPo fire in the hold, and MIT were recently fined for failing to label a packet of Lithium batteries that were sent by air-freight.
The other thing to watch out for is temperature changes. The voltage the batteries produce varies with temperature, but the critical voltage at which they spontaneously combust stays relatively constant, so if you charge them in the cold then bring them inside, this can send them off. At least two people have come to grief recently from the helifreak forum. One person lost his SUV a year or two back, and another lost his house. Thankfully his family and pug dog survived.
My helicopters mostly run on A123 batteries - LiPo are fine if you've got a garage with a concrete floor, or a detached shed. But when I lived in a flat they gave me the heebie-jeebies.
Last edited by abgd; 19th Jul 2012 at 01:08.