According to the Minecraft wiki, fire will only spread to blocks adjacent to it up to one block. I wouldn't be worried, unless you have a flammable block within four blocks above it.
Uuuuuh... I just got a great trap idea. A pressure plate in a wooden house hooked up to a piston or something that moves a block allowing for lava to flow closer to the house without the victim noticing anything is amiss... until he is trapped in a burning house .
I want to have a wood floor inside.
Basically the setup is as below. Lava moat on the left with the space and then my wall. With wood inside.
Would this work? Or would my floor catch fire?
Could I actually move my wall up and still be okay?
I figure I would need iron doors, as wood ones would burn that close, correct?
Actually, no. Wooden doors can not catch on fire.
Mainly cause I suck at wiring doors properly.
For an Iron door, you can just put a button beside it and/or a switch to open/close it. That's all the "wireing" you need.
Doors are great for diverting flows. A door of some sort could be you're way across the moat.
Marv
I support gas pockets in MC (see thread in Suggestions)!