Alan, there is absolutely no requirement to make any manner of ground or bond between the electrical system and the metal siding.
As our code reads, only metal 'likely to become energized' must be bonded, and most often this is done within an appliance.
Now, our meter cans are metal, and household siding, metal roofs, and all manner of things are nearly impossible to instal without there being some manner of path to ground.
I've seen some pretty impressive scorch marks result when a service mast breaks, and the results of some pretty severe arcing when a meter base fails. I don't doubt that a fire COULD be caused this way.
Yet, I suspect that the news story has left out some information, and we're not getting the full story.