Wow that really sucks! How bad was the damage to the garage?
I agree that it was either PS or a fuel leak. The flashpoint of engine oil is well north of 400F, and the exhaust headers cool to below 400F pretty quickly after parking. The flashpoint of modern PS fluid is also above 400F but the old mineral type stuff can ignite at a much lower temperature especially as it ages.
I always keep a few large fire extinguishers around, garage, kitchen, basement, and upstairs closet. But given how far this had progressed by the time you found it I'm not sure you would have even be able to use them. Although I'm rather amazed that a couple of the firefighters didn't try that while the others were fiddling about with the water hoses.
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