I think that was the point of the story. Did I miss something?

Er, I think you missed the sarcasm? Someone needs to invent a font that stands for sarcasm.

Sarcasm doesn't work that well over the internet. Especially not in short bursts like tike that.

I'll take that over this comment:

"The other possible explanation is that it was not chance. The movie 'Signs' makes a good discussion of this point."

I doubt it was luck: I rather think it's a completely normal way of affairs. At the moment of discovery, the gas concentration was probably far too low for an explosion. If the house was decently ventilated, the gas concentration may never have reached a sufficient concentration for an explosion. If the house wasn't decently ventilated, someone probably would have woken up from the smell. Gas leaks have a pretty large window for discovery, which is why gas leaks rarely cause explosions. The fact that he was mucking around with the electricity right before it is a coincidence, but it's also something bound to have happened in one of the many gasleaks that happen.

Gas explosions require quite precise conditions. A high gas concentration will also prevent an explosion by displacing oxygen. There were several cases of terrorist gas explosions a few years ago in Russia and most leaks were not discovered because they were in large apartment buildings and gas pipes were tempered with in rarely used stairwells.