News.
On World News tonight this Sunday, homes destroyed as hundreds flee a spreading wildfire in California.
Charges of a conflict of interest in the John Benet Ramsey murder case.
What is being sold is...
And the oldest antique ever auctioned off at Sotheby's.
It's got any competition beat by about 65 million years.
From ABC, this is World News Tonight Sunday.
Here's Carol Simpson.
Good evening.
In Northern California tonight, nearly a thousand firefighters are struggling against a fierce
wildfire.
It's already claimed several homes in thousands of acres north of Sacramento.
Firefighters are worried about dry weather and winds tonight.
And so far they do not have the upper hand.
ABC's Jane Claisen is in Yuba County.
We can't get down Frenchtown Dobbins.
It's coming across Frenchtown Dobbins.
They don't know how the fire started late yesterday, but once it got going it burned
5,000 acres overnight.
There's just so many houses out here in the brush it's hard to get everybody, but we're
trying right now.
They tried all night, evacuating more than a thousand families from heavily wooded terrain
40 miles north of Sacramento.
And today more prepared to leave, because if the winds change, as they're expected to
tonight, 200 more homes may be at risk.
We have a beautiful home and lovely treasures and things, but there's only one thing that's
really important, and that's the dog.
Several residents didn't want to leave and they didn't realize the fire was as close
as it was to them, but they finally left.
By some reports, as many as 20 homes have already been destroyed.
More than 1,400 firefighters from all over Northern California are using air tankers,
helicopters and bulldozers to battle the flames, and they're anticipating a long night.
If there is any good news here, it is that there are no other serious fires burning in
California right now, so more crews and more resources are available, giving everyone a
better chance of getting control of these fast moving flames soon.
Jane Place in ABC News, Dobbins, California.
Nine months after the murder of John Benet Ramsey, there are still no suspects under
arrest.
But now there is word that the two sides in the investigation are on the same side when
it comes to business.
More on this possible conflict of interest from ABC's Lisa Salters in Boulder.
Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter and this man, William Gray, a Ramsey family civil
attorney, both own small shares of a multi-million dollar Boulder office complex.
A relationship Hunter and Gray insist poses no conflict of interest.
I'd be dumbfounded if anybody with any serious judgment thought that there was, at least
on my part.
Not everyone agrees.
The fact that an attorney for the Ramsey family is in business with the lead prosecutor, whose
decision it is whether or not to file charges, has raised some eyebrows.
The overriding question is one of trust, I guess.
Can the public trust that these relationships will not get in the way of judgments made
and decisions made in the judicial system?
But in many towns the size of Boulder, it's not uncommon for opposing lawyers to share
the same business interests.
District Judge Murray Richtel likens it to owning shares of the same stock.
And neither side in this case benefits economically from the other side's involvement in the case.
So as far as I can see, it's utter nonsense.
Nonetheless, even the appearance of impropriety can be harmful in a case where there have
been so few answers.
Boulder police will make public tomorrow the investigation search warrants.
Those warrants should reveal why police searched the Ramsey home twice.
They could also provide some insight as to why this case remains a mystery nine months
after the murder.
Lisa Salters, ABC News, Boulder.
Denver.
The second trial in the Oklahoma City bombing case begins tomorrow.
Terry Nichols will be tried in the same courtroom on the same charges as Terry Nichols.