You bet. I'm constantly on alert for direct shorts like that. I recently restored a 1977 Dodge truck and decided to omit the bulkhead connectors. I ran all the wiring through a rather large rubber grommet on the firewall.
Just last week I had copious amounts of nasty smelling smoke rolling out from under the dash of this Dart. I found a giant rodent nest that was completely enveloping the 3-speed blower resistor(inside the evaporator box). I got lucky it didn't ignite. Given the time and effort I've put into this project, it would have been a huge bummer!
I also decided to disconnect the battery before leaving the shop.