California man defends his home as wildfires wreak havoc and spread smoke across western US – theporteronline

The Park Fire rages along Highway 32 near Forest Ranch, Calif., Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

By EUGENE GARCIA and JAIMIE DING

COHASSET, Calif. (AP) — In the small wooded community of Cohasset, Ron Ward watched as flames hundreds of feet high from California’s deadly Park Fire approached his family ranch.

He had already lost his insurance a month earlier, as companies increasingly turned away homeowners in California due to the state’s rising risk of wildfires, in part because of warmer weather and dry conditions brought on by climate change. So he and his son Ethan set about installing a fire protection system that included a water line to a pond and sprinklers. The system’s pump was delivered when the fire started.

The flames reached within 70 feet (21 meters) of his home. Then they stopped.

“It hit our sprinklers and went out a little bit, and then went around our property and missed, missed all of our structures,” Ward said. His 100-year-old ranch was saved.

Cohasset on Sunday showed the charred remains of the devastation, a scene Ward described as a “moonscape.” Mailboxes and vehicles were covered in pink fire retardant dropped by planes. The shells of a washer and dryer were surrounded by charred debris, and a charred motorcycle stood upright, balanced on rims after its tires apparently melted.

Firefighters made progress, aided by improving weather over the weekend, as they battled wildfires raging across the western United States. Still, more evacuations were needed as thousands of firefighters battled the flames.

Ward, who was left behind with a few friends, was the one who had to call his accountant and the neighbors to tell them that their houses had disappeared.

“They haven’t even had time to look at their homes,” he said, as he tearfully recounted his experiences last week in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday.

The Park Fire, the largest wildfire in California this year and the sixth-largest in the state’s recorded history, was one of more than 100 large active wildfires burning across the U.S. on Monday. The man arrested on suspicion of starting the Northern California blaze by pushing a burning car into a ravine made his initial court appearance Monday and was charged with arson of an occupied structure or property.

Ronnie Dean Stout was arrested at his Chico home the day after the fire. Prosecutors say Stout has a criminal record and could face life in prison if convicted.

There was no response to an email to the district attorney asking if Stout had legal counsel or someone who could comment on his behalf. Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey told reporters after the hearing that Stout says the incident was an accident, The Sacramento Bee reported.

The Park Fire burned more than 575 square miles (1,489 square kilometers) on Monday, an area larger than the city of Los Angeles, according to CAL Fire. The blaze has destroyed more than 100 structures and is threatening another 4,200.

Firefighters achieved 12% containment, aided by cooler temperatures and higher humidity over the weekend, with that percentage remaining the same on Monday.

Evacuation orders were in effect Monday for 25 wildfires, the National Interagency Fire Center said. More than 27,000 wildland firefighters and support personnel were assigned to wildfires that have burned more than 3,200 square miles (8,288 square kilometers) nationwide, the center said.

Some fires were caused by weather. Climate change is making lightning strikes more frequent, while the western U.S. is struggling with scorching heat and bone-dry conditions.

Ward said that despite surviving the attack, he and his friends remain vigilant. He wakes up at 5 a.m. and patrols the area in his SUV until dark, looking for fires.

“We just sail around and put out fires,” he said.

The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings Monday for large parts of Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming, along with parts of California, meaning dry fuels and stronger winds increased the fire danger. Air quality warnings were also issued for the northwestern U.S. and western Canada on Monday.

More than 4,800 firefighters were battling the blaze on Monday, assisted by numerous helicopters and fire-fighting aircraft.

The Park Fire has been compared to the 2018 Camp Fire, which ravaged Paradise, killing 85 people and destroying 11,000 homes.

In Southern California, about 2,000 people were ordered to evacuate as a fire ripped through the Sequoia National Forest. The wind-driven blaze burned more than 60 square miles (155 square kilometers) in four days, said Andrew Freeborn of the Kern County Fire Department.

According to Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell, director of the U.S. Fire Administration, one-third of U.S. residents live in areas where human activities and wildland vegetation converge, making wildfires more likely, the U.S. Fire Administration said in a statement.

“We’re not sure we want to live here,” Ward said of his Cohasset ranch. But generations have stayed since his wife’s great-grandfather settled there in 1905, and he’s not one to leave, he said.

“There’s a lot of history here,” Ward said. “So we live on this ranch and we’re dedicated to this ranch and the preservation of the ranch.”

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Ding reported from Los Angeles. AP reporters from the U.S. who contributed included Nic Coury, Rebecca Boone, David Sharp, Becky Bohrer, John Antczak, Rio Yamat, Holly Ramer, Sarah Brumfield, Claire Rush, Terry Chea, Scott Sonner, Martha Bellisle, Amy Hanson and Kathy McCormack.