tonight on "nightline," losing a fortune. an exclusive behind the scenes look at the man who was once one of the most wealthiest people puts everything up for the highest bidder. to his new mexico real estate and his antique cars, how to kiss nearly $100 million good-bye. inside the inferno. we are on the front lines of a massive california wildfire as the deadly blaze continues to burn and thousands of homes are threatened. so what does it feel like to

stand face to face with a 100-foot wall of flame? plus, when gps attacks. road maps replaced by the touch of a button. sound too good to be true? well, it is. why gps disasters are tonight's "sign of the times". captions paid for by abc, inc. good evening, everyone. i'm terry moran. we begin with a story about what it is like to lose money. tons and tons of money. in this recession, the average american is certainly pinches every penny. but for many of the super rich, the financial down turn has spent millions even billions lost. analysts say the number of americans with a net worth of $30 million dropped by nearly 25% last year. now, the man you are about to

meet is one of the biggest sers. it's staggering really, but his response might surprise you. he's not seeking any sympathy, certainly. in fact, he's still smiling as chris bury now reports. >> good morning, ladies and gentleman. >> on saturday in the scorching desert heat -- auction nears worked up bids for the rarefied retreat of a wealthy man who's taken it on the chin in this recession. >> you get the navajo rug. >> what sorts of things are you auctioning off? >> everything you see, from the real estate, the house, the automobiles, the who will ball of wax. >> 88 acres in all on new mexico's desert plains. private airstrip included. this is an absolute auction. the high bid wins.

no matter how low it is. >> sold. >> it means that if only one person shows up and they bid 50 cents that's the amount of money i get. >> that's a risky proposition. >> indeed. >> john mcafee, a mathematician by training knows about risk. in the late '80's he developed the antivirus software that's probably on your computer. he pioneered instant messaging and in both cases he grew bored an cashed out. at your peak, what were you worth? >> i'm not sure. that's the honest truth. i mean, you eventually have enough resources that a tiny fluctuation in the market can make you worth $10 million more in the morning and $10 million less in the evening. >> it's been reported you were worth about $100 million. >> may have been true. >> ballpark? >> may have been, yes. probably. >> probably.

>> like many wealthy americans, mcafee got walloped in the simultaneous collapse of real estate and wall street. but he got whacked more than most. since much of his fortune was tied up in luxury properties. >> oddly enough, when real estate markets crash it's the higher end properties that crash the most. simply because they're not necessities. >> at one point you're in the $100 million ballpark and now -- >> less than ten. >> less than $1million? >> absolutely. >> do you feel a pain of that loss? >> absolutely not. i feel a sense of freedom. >> he's now sold his beach front property in hawaii. a colorado mansion in the shadow of pike's peak. and soon, his posh desert get away. >> at one point i had five houses and five different -- in five different locations. and it's impractical. it's almost insane to have that much real estate.

you you can only be in one place at a time. >> did you get caught up in a culture of consumption? >> of course. we are the ultimate consumer society. if you succeed within that culture, then you're simply nor bonded to it. so you feel l likeyes, i got a l this money n and all this -- thabili to get thinggs. you just do it. people buy yachts, thehey buy jets. theyey buy multie homes. >> annd course, t they indulge their whimims and passions. are ese your very favorite toys? >> i would say so. >> in mcafecase t that eant mimillions he spent promoting sport t of aerotrekking. enenthusias fly to exprehehe for themorners and he builtlt t after just a cole of

lackluster bids it too was auctioned off along with the vintage air stream trailers where his friends, the sky gypsies, would stay. including his own customized camper once owned by howard hughes. >> sold $15,000 to the young lady in the umbrella. >> in this recession, auction near jim gall said that the rich have been rapidly downsizing, selling off the luxury items they accumulated in better times. >> we have had corporate aircraft, we have had yachts. we have had fancy cars. ferraris, lots of jewelry. we have had lots of people saying these are toys that i can live without. >> can you imagine that people have any sympathy for you possession? >> i hope they don't -- i don't have sympathy for my position. you know, i'm perfectly happy and if i were struggling to meet my mortgage and worried about losing my job and how i was going to feed my family, i wouldn't have much sympathy. >> do you think the recession in a certain sense has been good

for this country? >> absolutely. absolutely. i mean, it's brought home a dose of reality. and sometimes a little bit of pain is necessary to see and understand the true circumstances of your life. so absolutely it's been good. >> 500 on the third and final call. >> in mcafee's case, reality means his desert paradise draws only a few modest bids. >> sold. >> the home sells for $525,000. to a couple from the washington, d.c. suburbs. >> it's a little less than what i paid for the landscaping. >> somebody got a deal? >> somebody got a great deal. >> mcafee's entire estate including all those toys and a vast collection of artwork acquired on his world travels is

auctioned off for $1.6 million. afteseeing your possessions sold off and just -- in a few hours, any regrets? >> none. none whatsoever. >> why is that? >> i'm happy to get rid of them. i've got a few pennies inmy pocket. >> some of the stuff mcafee did not sell, he gave away. at least $2 million worth says to residents of this dirt-poor county in southwestern new mexico. >> i took a hangar and filled it with classic automobiles and art and furniture and put notices up all over the county and people came and took what they wanted. >> now, mcafee plans to take his remaining handful of millions and head to central america where he started a new venture to developatural medicines. you seem so remarkably relaxed for someone who's lost about $90 million. >> well, yeah. why wouldn't i be? i feel freer.

i have less responsibility and obligations. and i have enough money to feed myself. >> his attitude about money he tells us is forever changed. >> that most people don't sit down and ask what do i need? what do i want, because we want everything, but what do we need? we don't need very much. we really don't. the things we want and things need are two different things. >> did it take you a while to come that realization? >> yeah, about 65 years old. >> i'm chris bury for "nightline" in rodeo, new mexico. >> a moment of truth at the end of the day. it is just stuff. thanks to chris bury for that report. when we come back, we'll turn to the battle against those monster fires in los angeles. welcome to progressive. how may i help you? i'm looking for a deal on car insurance. i think i might have a coupon in here.

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to wildfire season now and the huge station fire, the largest blaze in the tinder box state of california right now, it is big, covering 200 square miles. it is threatening thousandses of homes in the foothills as well as a critical communications point. ngd it is deadly. clmiai the livesmi of two firefighters so far. but the fight goes on. and there is finally some cause for optimism. ryan owens is in tejunga, california. tonight t firefighters brought out a jumbo jet that dropped more than 20,000 gallons of fire retardant on the stubborn station fire north of los angeles. while the air show is impressive, the grind of this frustrating firefight goes on in the steep ridges and canyons below. they are dotted with homes. >> we are the infantry. we go -- we go into the hottest

parts and do what we can. >> shane paxton is the leader of what's called a hot shot crew. 22 men from the forest service brought in to help from tennessee. >> there are homes very close to us. how much danger are they in right now? >> a lot. >> you have houses right in the brush as you can see. it's all going to burn. the potential for it. you flflames and thohose homes didirt road. that's i it. firefighters stand guard on the road and wait for the fire's next move. >> we can't really predict which way it will go. it's going in ten different directions. >> the dirt road may not seem like much of a strategy but it's all these firefighters have. >> none of the fire crews arenese mountains because they're -- are in these mountains because they're inaccessible for us. i heard a 100 foot drop and it's really dangerous as far as -- we

have to wait until the fire starts and then act, is not proactive at all. we'll lose a lot of homes, but the people don't evacuate. i can't believe people don't leave. >> one of those who chose not to evacuate -- tony. his home is on the other side of the dirt road and this morning the flames came right up to his last line of defense. >> it was a fire that came through here, it was unbelievable, the around and the heat -- the ash and the heat. >> if his house burns, so does a piece of hollywood history. before this was his home -- it's where everyone's favorite extraterrestrial called home. this is l.a. after all. it's no surprise that this has been documented by more camera than you can imagine.

it shows how close the huge plumes of smoke are to downtown, los angeles, to a host of youtube videos. to a series of powerful still pictures that captured the fury of the fire in the way that video cannot. >> we have a lot of fires over the state of california. from northern border all the way to the south, and from the pacific to the sierra nevada. fires, fires, fires. >> the governor thanked the endless stream of firefighters who have come from across the country. nearly 4,000 are battling the massive station fire alone. for days they have worked more than 12-hour shifts in triple-digit temperatures. often sleeping outside on any grass they can find. this recreation area has been turned into a minicity where exhausted firefighters can finally take a shower and at least sleep on a cot. >> with this terrain, with

houses this close, we are looking for every advantage we can. because we can't face the fi fire -- mano a mano. >> although that hot shot team from tennessee will not be resting as long as the fire is that close to their dirt road. what do you think the next few days hold for you? >> lots more work. lots more lack of sleep. lots more eating smoke. hopefully a lot more success. >> there's been substantial progress that has been made. well, thweather has helped us certainly. i do not believe we have totally turned the corner on the fire, the fire has laid down. a lot of hot spots out there. if the temperature should go up again, it could be a very angry fire again, so we're not out of the woods. >> cooler temperatures and even some rain are in the forecast over the next few days. but firefighters warn it may be weeks before they can contain this fire's fury.

i'm ryan owens for "nightline" in california. >> and firefighters say that the station fire is 22% contained but still much more work to be done out there, obviously. our thanks to ryan owens for that rept. when we come back, you have no idea where you are even with that high-tech gps device. well, that's the subject of tonight's "sign of the times". you've wanted to quit smoking so many times,

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prevents the trip to grandmas from turning into a three-hour tour, or less bickering, no need of a road map. but like man, technology isn't infallible and for miguel marquez gps disasters are "a sign of the time". >> this is too cool. my new gps. this is going to be great. global positioning subpoenas using satellites, for stress-free driving. never look at another map, gps technology getting you to the future. >> turn right. turn -- >> the reality of gps doesn't always live up to the promise. directions sometimes less than perfect and don't you dare punch in a wrong number or name. technology is so sweet, so

lovely can turn you on in an instant. >> this is the technological mountain to climb i guess to get to use the things. >> you often hear the horror stories of gps, that they don't you in the right direction. >> in seattle, there was that near disaster when a bus driver was taking a girl's softball team to a game. gps routed the 12-foot bus under a nine-foot bridge. yikes. 21 players and the coach sustained myior injuries and -- minor injuries and the driver got a ticket. then there was the swedish couple vacations in italy. they punched into the gps a different twoletters. no sunshine a and blue seas for them. instead, they wound up in an industrial town 400 miles off course and no doubt very embarrassed. >> it takes me into less turns

and dead ends and buildings sometimes. >> he's one that the coyote and road runner would love. in utah, 26 friends travelling in separate cars wanted to take the scenic route to the grand canyon. boy, did they ever get it. >> road trip! >> hooray! >> gps led them along nearly impassable roads and left them out of gas on the edge of a sheer cliff. after a night in the wild, one of them called the episode a nightmare. a vacation from hell. in southern england, gps led a truck driver into a tight spot. so tight he had to spend three nights waiting for a tow. the lessons? no matter how smart technology gets, it can still lead us to some pretty dumb places. >> gps can't get people the one thing they really need which is

some kind of common sense. >> sometimes the gps screwup isn't a disaster at all. there was the case of a british bank robber and their not too smart driver who used the gps to scout robbery locations by putting them into the places of interests. they were interesting places to police when he got caught on one job, investigators linked him and he partners in crime to 21 other robberies. crime doesn't pay even with gps to lead you. >> go right and sometimes it's confusing. >> as you head out no matter where you think or hope you might be heading, keep your eyes on the road, hands on the wheel and don't necessarily trust where a gps or any technology may be leading you. for "nightline," i'm miguel marquez in london. >> that's pretty cool. i think i'll stick with the road map and just enjoy the ride. thanks to miguel marquez for that.

when we come back, the latest on hurricane jimena.