In 1999 there was an RV-8 that caught fire in flight. The pilot did get out, but unfortunately he was not wearing a chute. The NTSB said that the fire may have been so intense in the cockpit to be intolerable (the WWI scenario before chutes were widely used). Here is the NTSB Final Report.
On my first RV-8, I replaced the bolts that attach the canopy to the rollers with pip pins (as many have done). I'm sure I could open the canopy enough to just clear the windscreen fairing, pull the pip pins, and then push up and let the airstream rip the canopy off. The catch is that the canopy may strike the pilot's or passenger's head (even if pilot leans forward), rendering the pilot and/or passenger unconscious/dazed/injured if they are not wearing helmets.
Years ago Sean Tucker was practicing for Sun 'n Fun 2006 when he had an elevator disconnect. He was able to fly with elevator trim and climb to an altitude that allowed a bailout. He said that even though he had time to think through what he was going to do, when he released the canopy, it hit his helmet even though he leaned as far forward as he could. He said that the hit was hard enough that he thinks that it may have rendered him unconscious had he not had the helmet. His airplane had a full canopy though, unlike the RV-8 that has a fixed windscreen that may help the pilot avoid a hard canopy hit, but not the passenger. He mentions this in this video at about 3:55 (although the whole story is quite good). Also, starting at about 5:15 he mentions that when he left the airplane the stab and bracing wires were there and he gently pushed away from them with one hand.
Pip pin installed: