WESTERVILLE, Ohio -- Reports of lightning-related fires and gas leaks in at least a dozen states have raised concerns about the use of flexible gas lines made of corrugated stainless steel tubing and have led to lawsuits, studies and efforts to better track the incidents.

Manufacturers have defended the plastic-coated metal tubing, known as CSST, which has become increasingly common in new homes since it was introduced domestically more than two decades ago. Fire officials and researchers are trying to determine whether to blame a faulty product, unsafe installation or something else for the blazes.

Four homes caught on fire in central Ohio over a stormy 12-hour period this summer. Genoa Township Fire Chief Gary Honeycutt said he believes lightning struck at or near the homes, and the electrical charge traveled along the CSST before jumping to a less resistant pathway nearby such as a metal ventilation duct. It then punctured a hole the size of a pencil tip in the tubing and created a gas leak that could ignite, he said.

One of the fires charred the ceiling in the lowest level of Michael Wagner's dream home, a two-story property near a country club and golf course in an area where farmland has been turned into neatly manicured neighborhoods of newer homes.

A class-action lawsuit filed in Arkansas against several manufacturers claimed the tubing posed an unreasonable risk of fire from lightning strikes, leading to a 2006 settlement that was worth up to about $29 million, according to a copy of the settlement agreement provided by an attorney not affiliated with the case.

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