The hood lift shock on my car started smoking??? HELP!!!?

Ok let me start off first saying that I am VERY mechanical inclined and have alot of knowledge when it comes to cars. HOWEVER, the problem I encountered the other night has had me thrown for loops. The car is a 04 grand prix gtp, here is what happened. I was driving to the store at night (32 degree weather) and when I pulled up to the red light I started to smell a fire smell. I then started to think that my car was on fire so I immediately pulled over. When I went to raise the hood I heard electricity arcing when the hood was raised and the smell was really strong under the hood. Looked over all the wires and the engine and no problem was found. Well when I went to shut the hood, when the hood was going down I heard the arcing sound AGAIN and even saw smoke where it was coming from. Everytime I raised or lowered my hood, the lift shock ( holds hood up) was arc and smoke causing the smell I was smelling. I then thought maybe my car wasn't grounding and maybe electricity was causing the gas in the pump to malfunction and arc??? Well lucky I had tools in my car because I then disconnected my battery and took it off the car and then raised and lowered the hood again and the electricity sound continued and the more I did it, the more it was melting inside out. I was so frightened by this I was scared to even take it off the car because I was afraid it could explode and get killed by shrap metal. But I knew it had to come off and its only held on my metal clippers so I removed the pump and problem went away. I have drove the car alot since then and the smell has totally went away. The thing that confuses me the most is, why didn't it do this when the car was sitting in the driveway? Why did this problem occur when the car was in use? Is it possible the cold air could of made the pump malfunction or something? Sorry for the long post but any input would be appreciated.