California man defends his home as wildfires push devastation and spread smoke across US West [Video]

By Eugene Garcia And Jaimie Ding The Associated Press

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

He had lost insurance coverage on it just a month earlier as companies increasingly drop California homeownersdue to the growing risk of wildfires in the state, in part due to hotter weather and arid conditions caused by climate change. So he and his son Ethan went to work installing a fire protection system involving a water line to a pond and sprinklers. …