Gas leak coming from carb assembly

Ok so I've got a weird one (well weird for me).
I've just fixed my bike for the electrical issues I put in another post. After completing that and getting it all squared up I decided to fire up the bike and check voltages to make sure that the components were functioning as expected. First thing to note here is that the bike did not want to start almost as if no spark. I checked the cutoff switch to make sure I didn't pull a stupid mistake and tried again.
Finally after holding in the starter switch I could hear it getting spark and starting to turn over.

Once I got it running however the weirdness occurred. I started to hear random 'pops' that sounded a lot like an electrical arc. It kept happening over say 10 seconds until I started to see gasoline spilling out from beneath the bike in droplets. Immediately I shut off the bike.
Upon my inspections I can see that there is gas that's leaking from somewhere near the bottom most seal point of the carburetor. The tank's removed and so is the airbox assembly. What I'm trying to determine is two things: what the heck happened?, and is this something I can do. I have never done a carb assembly let alone four that are all linked together.

Your help and suggestions are very greatly appreciated in advance and I'm sorry if this is a little vague.
Please let me know if I can add any details to help you out.

 

Sometimes when the carbs sit empty for a while, the gasket will dry out and leak. Often just getting them wet with fuel will allow them to fix themselves.

I would just clean up any pooled fuel and try them again.