An arc can have the temperature of four times the surface of the sun and will not neccesarily trip a noormal protective device due to its impedance.
Just for interest, vaporised copper has 67,000 times the volume of solid copper, this is why it makes quite a big bang.
I am an electrical engineer, most people do not fully understand the dangers of electricity and the lottery they play even at 110VAC.
The "physics" of electricty are tricky at all voltages, there are recorded cases of people dying from electric shock from a 24VDC truck battery.