Far as I can tell, actual damage was limited to the grill and part of the bumper cover, with some minor cracking at the fiberglass front lip of the original hood. Looking behind the grill, the fiberglass for the header support was cracked, and someone cut a small section out (directly behind the grill top crossover cover /emblem; upper middle mounts gone). Might have had the passenger head light assembly replaced, can't tell, but it didn't match the driver's side headlight when I got it.
Everything else looks to be correct, original and unmolested, including bumper, horn, AC condenser, radiator, wiring up front, etc. which are all in the area or easily damaged. No upper support or frame rail damage. No airbag deployment. Replacement hood lined up w/o issue and matches the fender gap, nicely, though driver-side fender needed minor adjustment to match the gap (hood is from an '02, but matches with same BQ color code) and the hood height rubber stoppers needed lowered a few twists.
Doesn't pull, tires have good tread and even wear, etc. Had it safety inspected (ironically, the same day) and everything checked out safety-wise. The only thing they could find issues with are the rear brakes (which I already knew) and the end links for rear sway bar are bad.
I read on a consumer complaint site someone did indeed have a fire that was caused by a fan motor:
1999 Lincoln Continental Engine And Engine Cooling Problems
Considering the fan itself was smoking out a vent hole on mine, I 100% believe the complaint in the link.
My manual said nothing about relays other than whatever is in the fuse box under the hood, near the battery. AFAIK, a fuse should still pop if too much draw. My thinking is the fans *should* have separate fuses to protect each, separately. Much easier for a fan to pop a 15 amp under duress, than a shared 30 amp.
I'll look closer to see if it has the aux. relay box though, so thanks for mentioning it FlaOkie