Snap, Crakle, Fire?

Ben was sitting downstairs watching TV when he heard a snap followed by a bunch of crackling sounds. Then the fluorescent lights went out and it smelled like a fire cracker went off. He hurried up and turned the power off on the circuit breaker. While he was opening the light and taking the fluorescent bulbs out, the fire cracker smell started getting worse. We weren't sure what to do since we did not see any smoke. We decided to call the non-emergency line and they acted like it was a big deal so, they sent out the fire department. At 10:30 at night we have a fire truck outside our house with all its lights on. The firemen came into our house with all their gear on and did a complete search downstairs. They determined that the snap, crackle, bad smell was coming from the wires that go inside and outside of the light fixture in the ceiling and we should not be in any danger of having a fire. Unfortunately, the fire cracker smell is still in my basement and I cannot seem to get rid of it.