Thanks for letting me know why I saw all the fireman standing around. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why they seemed to be doing nothing. I knew there had to be a good reason. I have the utmost respect for firefighters and I knew there had to be a good reason.
Yes, all new homes are electric and this is probably why. I really didn't want electric at first, but this is the second home we've seen destroyed by lightening, so I'm very happy with electric now.
I wonder is something can be done about those gas lines running through the attics. It just doesn't seem like a sensible thing to do even from the onset!