Lightning is a major cause of building fires, even though highly effective protection against this threat has long been available. In the 1700s Benjamin Franklin proposed a method of protecting structures from the effects of lightning. His method was based on observations that suggested (a) lightning preferentially strikes elevated objects and (b) lightning currents can be carried to and dissipated in earth by a suitable network of conductors and grounding electrodes. Various approaches aimed at providing protection against lightning, similar to Franklin's method of elevated rods and down-conductors, have been tried over the past 250 years; the more successful designs have been described and published as standards for guidance and protection of the public. In 1904, The National Fire Protection Association of Quincy, MA, established the American standard for installation of lightning protection systems. Now known as NFPA 780, The Standard for the Installation of Lightning Protection Systems (available for purchase through http://www.nfpa.org/Codes/index.asp) is revised periodically by an NFPA technical committee to incorporate new knowledge about the physics of lightning and advances in technology.