I don't think that battery terminal connections that are 'too tight' would cause trouble. Usually burns and fire are from a too loose connection that is arching, or a dirty connection that has a lot of electrical resistance.
If you torque down the nuts too much, I would worry about breaking off the terminals. Perhaps that is what happened and the posts broke off some below the level of the case.
I think you really are only supposed to use a very small amount of torque to tighten them down, like 5 or 10 foot pounds. The clamps are mostly real soft lead and bend easily. Using a small wrench that is 6 inches long requires 'medium' pressure to get there. Nothing dramatic.
I am not sure that you can get the head of any torque wrench down close enough to the nut to actually use one.
I would just make sure that they are clean and covered with anti-corrosion stuff. Then double check the nut torque every couple of months with a wrench.
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