MP3DirectCut - https://mpesch3.de/ - might also suit. I use it a lot for community radio stuff as it doesn't have to pre-load the entire file, making extracting interviews from the MP3 log files a very quick process. Cue the file, B for begin, N for end, File, Save selection, done.
For a compressor to catch fire there must have been other issues. Simply leaving a fridge door open should not be sufficient to have a catastrophic failure - an overheat cut out should have tripped. Still, good that you had CYA under control.