Lighting went out in half of house?
Often the electrician will have multiple taps in a ceiling light or fan.

The popping sound is probably where the problem is, and resetting the breaker did nothing because the popping ( fault to ground ) broke the circuit.

I would not recommend this for a DIY project because damaged wires and connections need expert eyes. 

But the good news is you've probably saved the electrician some leg work hunting down the source of the problem, and you some money paying their time.

Smoke alarms need to be replaced every 10 years so that may need to be done since you mentioned the house is over 10 years old.

Garage doors opening on their own shouldn't have anything to do with power quality, but more of a circuit board defect, faulty keypad button or similar.