When a ship is damaged at present, there’s no chance of the damage getting any worse - it just stays static. I’d love it if those fires burning all over them had a chance of spreading, and eventually destroying the whole ship, if left unchecked. Or of going out (or visibly burning less brightly, perhaps, I’m guessing that’d be easier to do), leaving a hole in the ship but no (or less) flame and no chance of getting worse.
Maybe combine this with the exploding-power-core suggestions, too.
Extra points if there’s any way to get a burning fighter to go out of control and crash into the bridge of the nearest cruiser.