GM-GMC: My 71 chevy cheyenne c10 350, flame arresters, power steering pump

Question
I recently got a '71 chevy cheyenne 350 auto trans that ran beautifully until today when she went up in flames. The fire was coming out of the carburator. It burned a hose from the power steering pump that runs into the manifold? Various vaccum lines and chared some wires from the harness that runs along the top of the firewall and all my plug wires and distributor cap and dist wires.. I feel so hopeless because I don't know where to begin and what all I need to get this back running and how to prevent it from happening again? I almost feel like I bit off more than I can chew... Do you have any suggestions? Should I take it to a shop and let them fix it all and get me back on the road again?.. I bought this as a daily driver because of the newer motor and how it ran. The guy I got it from had just put this carb on before I got it and I think thats where the fire errupted from? Should I fix it? Or try to resell it as is...?
Please help me I really like this truck but dont know what to do and how to get over the trauma of putting out those flames today.
 Thank you so much!
_-Rich

Answer
Unless you have some type of fuel leak around the carb the fire was likely caused by a backfire.  As for repairing the damage.  If you are not comfortable repairing it yourself the best bet is to find a shop that you can trust.  Tell them exactly what you want and ask for an estimate.  Is your truck a long box or short box c10?  I have a number of customers that are always looking for historic vehicles if you decide you want to part ways send let me know and I can see if one of them is interested.  That is about all the advice I can give.  There is very little service information for vehicles of that year.  As a preventative measure there are flame arresters that can be installed on the top of the carb that can prevent things like that from happening in the future.
Hope this helps