I guarantee that the 787 problem is not with the battery technology but with the assumption that it is possible to charge as many as 8 cells in series without problems. The weakest cell WILL reverse polarity and appear as a short after the fact. This is true for any battery technology.
It's bollocks, actually, as everyone with a car knows. Where the battery technology is very sensitive to reverse polarity a shunt diode is placed across the cell. Anyway none of this is an acceptable reason for fires and fumes. Back in the '70s during an industrial work experience period I used to test packs of NiCds for military (airborne guided weapons) applications. We had to temperature cycle and fully charge the batteries several times from +100C to -55C. In several months in the lab/production I never heard of smoke or flames....quite a few didn't meet performance criteria after a couple cycles, which is why we cycled but no dangerous stuff. Most rechargeable cells are not so very sensitive and will tolerate a reverse polarity provided the power dissipated is not beyond certain limits.