Since my 970 also lacks vrm cooling and is cooled by airflow, am I in any danger of a fire?

Welcome to the Forum tdomonte
NO!
Do you have issues with your Card, no other users have reported that they are have problems.

Thanks for the quick response. I just wanted to make sure as every site is reporting it as a design oversight and that cards should have vrm cooling. I just became paranoid as my 970 has no vrm cooling beyond the airflow,which only ever spins when the gpu core is hot enough. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't endangering my precious cats.

Remember that even a Toaster can catch fire, any electronic device can.
Look at all the Phone Chargers and Phones themselves that are catching on Fire.