Should I buy a garage or work in garage under house

I've got a basement garage myself, as well as a shop, but it's about 250 feet from my house. It's certainly a lot handier to walk down the stairs to my garage than walking out to the shop. The only time I ever had a close call as far as a fire hazard has made me extremely more cautious. I had recently removed a fuel line to replace the fuel pump and filter. Next weekend I decided to fire up the car but it didn't start after about a solid minute of cranking.. Put about a gallon of gas on the floor. The fumes wafted up into the house, but dissipated after a day. I shudder to think of what might have happened.