what did you find out? I'm asking because I have a 7 year old dual fuel, and have just experienced a similar problem. I turned it on to preheat it, and about 10 minutes later, I heard a strange noise. When I looked in, the right rear corner of the element was glowing bright orange and giving off sparks. I turned it off immediately and let it cool. I can't tell if something happened to the element itself, or something dripped on it - there are drip-like blobs on it. But I haven't baked anything messy.
I've never had an electric oven before, so I don't know anything about them - do the elements die?