#flames leveled

PARADISE, Calif | In smoldering wildfire ruins, life goes on for a hardy few

PARADISE, Calif. — Brad Weldon lost his home to fire when he was a kid, so when a deadly wildland blaze came roaring toward his ranch house in the pines where he lives with his 89-year-old blind mother, he wasn’t going to let disaster strike twice.

Weldon and his mother’s caregiver, armed only with a garden hose and buckets, successfully fought the flames for 24 hours. At times, they had to lie…