Her family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that Atmos Energy’s “failure to maintain its gas lines as required by federal and state law led to the girl’s death and injuries to her family and neighbors.”

Thank God we have courts and state and federal regulations.

In response, the Duffners’ attorney said he believes the case could set a dangerous precedent because it proves that the local government has the power to threaten a family with thousands of dollars in fines and decades in prison because they refuse to add something to their property that will cause them physical harm.

That wouldn't really be a new precedent, that's established law.

In response to the outrage over the news that a hospitalized homeowner was being cited for failing to mow his lawn while he was in the hospital, a spokesperson for the City of Dallas told NBC 5 that while a code compliance inspector did leave a notice on the fence of the property “to notify the homeowner that they were in violation,” the city is now taking into account “the sensitive nature of the case” and they have decided not to issue the homeowner a citation.

It's hard to say whether it was in response to media coverage or if they would have done that anyway had he gone through the regular appeals process. Anyhow it would seem to me that any fines he accrued as a result of being unable to access his property would be damages that he could add to his lawsuit against the gas company.