Had the same thing happen to our GE oven about 3 months ago. Thing actually lit on fire! Had to unplug the stove to get it to stop. It was about 20 yrs old so I didn't even attempt to put a new element in it. Wife had been asking for a new one for a while so we were off to the appliance store within the hour. Some how that morphed into a new fridge and microwave as well......$4500 later.........