clayton sandell, abc news, los angeles. >> and we're going to have much more coming up on paris jackson'sondition on "good morning america." >>> well, a federal judge says a dying girl from philadelphia must be put on the adult list to get a lung transplant. the family of 10-year-old sarah murnaghan filed that suit, that was after the request was turned down by the federal government. sarah's doctors believe they can perform a successful transplant with adult lungs, but medical ethicists question the decision and say it's troubling when courts make medical judgments. >>> the susan g. komen breast cancer charity canceling annual events in several major cities because of a decline in participation. the group's charity walks will not be returning next year in half of the 14 cities they're usually held in including chicago, boston and washington. the group was heavily criticized last year when it stopped providing grants to planned parenthood for breast screenings. >>> the coast guard rescued fi people whose sightseeing plane crashed in the side of a steep mountain in southeastern alaska. all

here's abc's clayton sandell in los angeles. >> reporter: the call came. >> od'd on motrin and cut herself>> reporter: a possible overdecember. >> this was a serious suicide attempt. this was not a cry for help. >> reporter: paris was only 11 when her father died in 2009. >> daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. >> reporter: along with her brothers prince and blanket, paris is now under the care of her grandmother, katherine jackson. she is now suing a concert promoter she blames for her son's death. paris is both a plaintiff and a witness in the case. >> the jackson attorneys have done all we can to keep this trial as far away from the jackson children and paris as possible. >> reporter: paris has largely lived out of the spotlight but has talked about pursuing acting and music. and she even appears in this recent youtube video. >> i got a text. >> reporter: giving her fans makeup advice seeming very much like a regular teen. >> and those of you who have not seen this makeup, well, hello. this is my face. it's kind of a shocker. >> reporter: the jackson family released a

abc's clayton sandell on the front lines from the start. and he's there for some difficult homecomings tonight. >> reporter: tonight, the battle of black forest is finally favoring firefighters. >> i'm seeing some very encouraging signs. >> reporter: progress, but some areas are still too dangerous to enter. frustrating more than 20,000 refugees who just want to go home. but tonight, some of the lucky evacuees are going back. we first saw this home thursday. makeshift sprinklers on the roof. it turns out it's the home of the shimshak family. today, they returned home to see their home spared. they're now unpacking the important things. the dogs, the clothes, the stuff ducks. >> i do some taxidermy on the side. >> reporter: and remember, mike and shirley trees, we found them frantically evacuating their animals thursday. even taking time to save a priceless family cookbook. some of these are 100 years-plus? >> hey, welcome back. >> reporter: tonight, they're home. feel like you dodged a bullet? >> more than once. >> we are so lucky. we know

clayton sandell is there. >> reporter: imagine landing at a major airport and seeing this. hundreds of passengers at the denver airport racing for shelter as a funnel cloud approached. >> a tornado warning includes denver airport. >> reporter: travelers huddled nervously in hallways and bathrooms waiting for the all clear. a normally busy concourse eerily quiet while severe thunderstorms and strong winds battered the runways. >> the storm is pushed off to the east but not before bringing america's fifth busiest airport to a stand still. the tornado left behind no damage or injuries but a scare for people hoping to travel safely by air tonight. clayton sandell, abc news, denver. >>> we turn now to a milestone in america's longest war. today n.a.t.o. troops in afghanistan officially passed the baton to afghan forces. now they will take the lead on security for the first time in 12 years. that handoff was met by word that the taliban is ready to talk about making peace. our team is standing by to analyze the impact and we begin on the ground in afghanistan with muhammad lila.

and so is abc's clayton sandell. >> reporter: this morning, wildfires are blowing up all over colorado. the worst in the black forest area north of colorado springs, growing to about 8,000 acres in a matter of hours. as many as 60 structures have been damaged or destroyed. the blaze is out of control. police helping thousands of people to get out. >> our mandatory evacuation area is about 24,000 acres. right now, we're estimating the fire to have consumed somewhere between 7,500 and 8,000 acres. it's affected a population of 5,469. >> they had the road blocked off. they wouldn't let us in. and finally, i persuaded him to let me go and get our dogs. >> reporter: dry, windy conditions and record-hot triple-digit temperatures. denver broke a record. tuesday's 100-degree high, the earliest on record. >> the fire is still pretty well scattered. it's not just one wall of fire, like this community has seen. >> reporter: two more colorado fires are burning out of control. one forced evacuations of the scenic royal gorge park near canyon city. at least three structures burned there. and another

abc's clayton sandell in denver on why forecasters are saying we're in for a long and dangerous season. >> reporter: out of control fires are chewing up the west. here in colorado, residents are coming back to the black forest, finding more than 500 homes reduced to ash. >> i can't even tell what the hell anything is. >> reporter: highly destructive fire seasons are becoming the new normal. it's partly because more people are building homes in overgrown forest areas like this. but scientists say it's also made much worse by climate change. climate experts blame extreme drought and global temperatures running hotter than average every single month for 28 years straight. research shows wildfires are already burning bigger and more often. on average, torching twice as much ground as 40 years ago. plus, fire season is now two months longer than it used to be. relief from rain may help in the short term but the long term picture looks a lot like this. clayton sandell, abc news, morrison, colorado. >> our thanks to clayton tonight. >>> late breaking word this evening of a criminal investigat

clayton sandell, abc news, denver. >> 168 degrees. >>> and now, we turn to a hot showdown in texas. between a firebrand woman in tennis shoes and the texas governor. we told you about that texas mom, wendy davis, who became a folk hero to her supporters after talking for 11 hours to try to keep current law from changing. today, texas governor rick perry created a sort of high noon between the two of them. david kerley tonight with round two. >> reporter: tonight, it's a true texas showdown. the state senator -- in pink tennis shoes -- versus the governor. >> what we witnessed tuesday was nothing more than the hijacking of the democratic process. >> reporter: this -- >> members, i'm rising on the floor today -- >> reporter: -- is what angered rick perry. wendy davis' 11-hour filibuster -- no food or water -- to stop a bill that would make abortion nearly impossible in texas. it worked. and davis' shoes, which she wore to endure standing all that time, are now a trending search term. today, perry made it personal. >> she was a teenage mother herself. it is just unfortunate that she ha

clayton sandell, abc news, colorado springs. >>> and still ahead right here on "world news," rage on the road. the huge spike in this. and would you know what to do if you're the target? >>> and later, a rock star's brother with a surprising charge, that the underlying cause of amy winehouse's death may not have been her addiction. could it have also been something else? but i feel skinnier, you know? not really. aaah! jessica! whoa! your friend's a rate sucker. her bad driving makes car insurance more expensive for the rest of us. try snapshot from progressive. snap it in and get a discount based on your good driving. [pop!] stop paying for rate suckers! try snapshot free at progressive.com. can you start the day the way you want? can orencia (abatacept) help? could your "i want" become "i can"? talk to your rheumatologist. orencia reduces many ra symptoms like pain, morning stiffness and the progression of joint damage. it's helped new ra patients and those not helped enough by other treatments. do not take orencia with another biologic medicine for ra due to an increased risk of s

abc's clayton sandell has the very latest from there. >> reporter: colorado is erupting in flames. hot, dry winds are fanning seven fires, the worst blowing up and forcing evacuations over 50 square miles. walls of flame from the black forest fire near colorado springs are taking out million-dollar homes. every house on this street gone. >> we have an assessment completed on 4 12 homes. 92 are total losses. >> reporter: seven thousand people ordered to leave had little warning -- >> i'm just completely terrified at this moment. >> reporter: -- stalked by giant flames and ominous smoke. >> one of the worst fears is that people took their chances and it may have cost them their life. >> reporter: lynn brown had just 90 frantic minutes to decide what she could take. >> people were grabbing photos off the wall, photo albums. whether the house is still standing, i don't know, everyone seems to think that it's gone. >> reporter: late today she learned her family's home for 18 years burned to the ground. >> the minute you leave you realize there's a lot that you forgot. >> reporter: anoth

abc's clayton sandell leads us off near colorado springs. >> reporter: for firefighters locked in an epic battle, today a gift from the sky. the weather, helping quench this monstrous fire that's killed two people, destroyed almost 400 homes and turned entire neighborhoods into charred wastelands. >> we got our tails kicked for a couple days. and i think today we delivered some blows and we've got some good news to give out. >> reporter: the sheriff believes someone started this fire, but doesn't know if by accident or on purpose. and for now, the fire zone is still too dangerous to let people go home. >> you don't know if we're going to even have a home. >> reporter: like 40,000 other fire refugees, cindy and her family need a place to say, but there's no room at the inn. any inn. >> back on the road again. >> reporter: today they packed up again, forced to drive to the only hotel they could find, two hours away. >> we have our family, and that is -- if anything, we have each other and we've always been able to rely on each other. >> reporter: exactly one year ago, the massive waldo

clayton sandell tonight. clayton, thank you. >>> now, to a serious health alert tonight. that outbreak of hepatitis a linked to a frozen berry mix sold at costco in several states. the fda is investigating. and in california tonight, health officials are reaching out to people who may have been exposed to it. abc's john schriffen is in los angeles. >> reporter: shoppers at costco were surprised to learn this frozen organic berry mix from townsend farms in oregon, was linked to 30 cases of hepatitis a. >> it's shocking. >> yeah. it's really not good. >> it makes you wonder. >> reporter: even though health officials haven't ordered a recall, costco pulled the berries from its shelves after people became sick in five western states. >> we just used it four weeks ago at a big family breakfast. we put it in some muffins. >> reporter: doctors say anyone exposed should be vaccinated quickly. los angeles has set up seven clinics to screen possible victims. >> there is only a two-week period. so, every day that people have been exposed delay, they could possibly miss the chance to

abc's clayton sandell tells us what happened next. >> reporter: this morning, the powerhouse fire is earning its name. massive flames tearing through mountain canyons north of los angeles that haven't burned in 30 years. >> it's hard to get our firefighters in these areas with the thick brush. >> reporter: nearly 1,000 firefighters are attacking the blaze from the ground and air. and imagine the horror of this man, spotted by a kabc tv hospital. he's stranded not far from a monstrous wall of fire. but before nightfall, he was rescued. new mexico is fighting two out-of-control wildfires. near the town of jimenez springs, people are fleeing from their homes. >> it's going up in flames. >> reporter: a second fire near santa fe, is choking the city in a smoky haze. fires are also burning in colorado and oregon. fires have destroyed thousands of acres. there's two big problems for firefighters. number one, the winds. and number two, the heat. 100-degree-plus temperatures. the flames are being supercharged by extremely dry trees and terrain. drought has parched the entire west. nearly half

clayton sandell has more. >> reporter: firefighters called in maureen forcements from the u.s. military. they will swoop into colorado's smoky skies. the planes churn out 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in five seconds. they'll help knock down the worst of a dozen blazes that have torched more than 133 square miles of colorado mountains. >> i saw some smoke. >> reporter: the entire town of south fork, 400 residents, are still evacuated. flames are moving closer, but so far every home has been spared. >> the fire pretty much made a turn. it would not burn in the aspen. that's a lot of what's over by south forecak. >> reporter: fires are also burning in new mexico and arizona. residents in prescott got news they could go home. >> i really didn't expect it. i thought they were going to wait until the winds died down a little bit. >> reporter: but in colorado, as long as the forecast calls for hot, dry weather, nobody is going home yet. clayton sandell, abc news, denver. >>> americas cup officials say they have made good progress on agreements to implement safety recommend

for "good morning america," clayton sandell, abc news, denver. >> our thanks to clayton. >>> back to gio for the news this morning. he's in for ron. great to see you. >> great to be here. great to be here, thanks so much. >>> and we begin with the on going investigation into patriots' tight end aaron hernandez. state police officers and investigators spent hours inside his home saturday. hernandez is being investigated following the mysterious shooting death of his friend, oden lloyd. lloyd's body was found in a land fill just a mile from hernandez's home. >>> a crash at a world-famous 24 hour race has killed an experienced driver. 34-year-old allen simonson died when his car crashed into the wall at the start of the le mans race, just ten minutes in. he was a member of the aston martin racing team. this is the 90th anniversary of that race. >>> and this morning, a little girl at the center of an organ transplant controversy is out of a coma and responsive. sara monaghan, a 10-year-old with cystic fibrosis, had a double lung surgery earlier this month. she gained national attention w

here's abc's clayton sandell. >> reporter: this morning, the town of south fork, colorado, is hoping the inferno can be stopped. walls of flame charging through 60-square miles of forest. south fork thought it was doomed. >> lots of plumes. big plumes going up. >> reporter: roughly 400 residents, along with hundreds more summer tourists made a break from the town, which often serves as a hollywood backdrop. but overnight, the evacuees dodged a fiery bullet, catching a break from a shift in the wind. >> our biggest concern at this point, is to get ourselves out of south fork, colorado. >> reporter: rodney reid stayed behind. he watched the fire's fast advance. >> this has us pretty concerned. >> reporter: threatening the family grocery store that's been around since 1946. >> we're trying to be here in case we need to provide supplies to the firefighters and law enforcement personnel that are trying to save our town. >> reporter: south fork is partly famous for its cameos. in "national lampoon's vacation," it's where the griswolds came to camp. >> it really is fun, isn't it? >> reporte

clayton sandel, abc news, colorado springs. >>> checking the weather maps now, it looks like a lot ofually to be honest. more storms from the northern plains to the midwest and great lakes region. rain for parts of the northeast. afternoon thunderstorms from the deep south off to the mid-atlantic. showers in the pacific northwest. >> upper 60s, mid-70s along the west coast. 88 in miami, atlanta, chicago. some nice weather to recover from the stanley cup celebration. >>> all right. we have some congratulations to hand out this morning all because of this. hang on. pretty cool. that is a small rocket built by three students from georgetown, texas. the flight took part as a competition in the annual air show in paris, france. >> inside that rocket was a raw egg. the idea behind the competition was to have the rocket soar 750 feet into the aur and then float back to the ground, all of this without the egg being damaged. well, that's exactly what happened, which was enough for kids from texas to win the entire competition. congratulations to them. >> pretty amazing. that is a soft little l

clayton sandel has the latest. >> reporter: the powerhouse fire is powering through steep mountains. a nightmare of flames that bore down on lake hughes, north of los angeles. >> i am completely humbled. it's really hard to see your community like this. >> it is overwhelming. i have been up here 30 years. this ain't my first fire. this one is the worst that i've seen. >> reporter: an army of 2,000 firefighters march to the front lines trying to get an upper hand on the blaze only 20% contained. a thick plume of smoke could be seen all over southern california. >> we just have to get in front of the fire and stop it as quick as we can. >> reporter: in new mexico crews are battling fires keeping 200 homes evacuated. the blazes come at a time the forest service will hire 500 fewer firefighters nationwide this year thanks to budget cuts. how worried are you about the rest of the fire season? >> very worried. a long drawn out fire season. we will be challenged on every incident we have got. >> reporter: right now the fire is burning out of control. as you can see smoke has filled these st

abc's clayton sandell is there, sweating it out. >> reporter: the air here in denver is pushing 100 degrees. but measure the surface of this swing. 162 degrees. >> keep on eye on the kids out there. also, from texas, the extreme heat is being blamed for buckling the pavement in the city of lubbock. >>> plenty of record-high temperatures will be challenged today and over the weekend. >> for a closer look at all of it, we're joined by accuweather's jim dickey. he's part of our extreme weather team. good morning, jim. >> good morning, john and diana. temperatures prime to soar here, from the west coast down on into the southern plains, into texas. the jet stream continues to ridge its way northward. and the heat will continue to build as a result. daytime highs here friday, 104 in dallas. 101 in houston. 100, oklahoma city. this doesn't factor in the humidity. when you factor that in, too, warmer than this. flirting with 130 degrees this weekend in death valley. john and diana, back to you. >> jim, thank you. >>> our sam champion is tracking the heat, as well. he'll have the latest forecast on

this evening abc's clayton sandell on the newest pictures coming in. >> reporter: mother nature kicking off summer with a deadly blast. raking the plains and upper midwest. one woman killed when powerful storms slammed eastern south dakota. >> we definitely have seen a lot of damage. >> reporter: the town of hot springs bombarded by golf ball sized hail. tornadoes were spotted in minnesota, in the twin cities squalls leveled large trees and streetlights. 60,000 power customers left in the dark. in canada, floods killed three people and put much of downtown calgary underwater. >> this is downtown calgary, state of emergency remains in effect for obvious flooding. much of the downtown core has been closed since friday, it's expected to remain that way until midweek. >> reporter: out west they could use that water, wild fires have erupted all over colorado. the worst threatening the small town of south fork, 400 residents and hundreds more tourists forced out. >> the next thing you know, they said leave now. so they just hurried us on out. >> reporter: unexpected shift in wind and terrain

clayton sandell leads us off from the front lines tonight. >> reporter: the destruction is staggering. today, the black forest fire burned through a record, becoming colorado's most destructive wildfire ever. >> and we have right now 360 homes that are complete losses. >> reporter: these just a few of the many homes now burned to the ground. this was ted robertson's house the last time he saw it. when he came back, he found this. >> i have never lived through anything like this. >> reporter: now, military has joined the battle. >> give me some water! >> reporter: firefighters from the air force academy just up the road, stomping flames on the ground. planes and blackhawk helicopters bombing hotspots from above. 41,000 people under mandatory orders to evacuate. this is one of the houses in danger. you can see from the sign -- the people have already left, taking no chances. before they left they left sprinklers on the roof running just in case. >> the most important thing is the people and the animals. the rest is just stuff. >> reporter: mike trees and his families are leaving. their

for "good morning america," clayton sandell, abc news, lake hughes, california. >> thanks to clayton. now to josh for the other stories. >>> we begin here with a new chapter in the scandal plaguing the irs. today, the acting commissioner testifies before congress while being asked about this video. irs employees line dancing at a conference. a government watch dog finds the agent spent some $50 million on conferences between 2010 and 2012. acting commissioner danny werfel says it's an unfortunate vestige from a prior era. >>> new fingerpointing after the targeting of conservative groups by the irs. congressman darryl issa says the targeting was coordinated in washington, not cincinnati. he says the order came from headquarters. >>> stocks dropped overseas sharply today. some investors are worried the federal reserve will pull back on the stimulus program. it has kept interest rates low. a group of economists said investors are ignoring signs of a global slowdown. >>> at least 119 people killed in a fire at a chicken plant in northeast china. workers were trapped in the massive buildin

clayton sandell, denver. >> thanks. >>> back to gio for the news this morning. he's in for ron. >> great to be here. >>> and we begin with the ongoing investigation into aaron hernandez. they spent hours inside his home saturday. he's being investigating following the mysterious shooting death of his friend oden lloyd. the body was found a mile from his home. >>> a crash at the 24 hour rate killed an experienced driver. allen simonson died when he began the he mans in france. he was a member of the aston martin racing team. this is the 90th anniversary of that race. >>> and this morning, a little girl at the center of an organ transplant stroefrs out of a coma and responsive. she is a 10-year-old with cystic fie bring broe sis and had double lung surgery. her family fought to get her on the adult transplant list with just weeks to live. >>> and take a look at this, emergency crews called in after a sink hole opened up in minneapolis. it took out half the road. it's 20-feet deep and created by a water main break. it could take two weeks before it's filled. >>> an

abc's clayton sandell is in colorado springs with the latest. clayton. >> reporter: good morning to you will, bianna. you can see from this road block it's still far too dangerous to get into parts of the zone. it's only po% c but a break in the weather could change that. overnight the first good news for some of the roughly 40,000 people evacuated from their homes. >> effective immediately, the mandatory evacuation in the city of colorado springs, the flying horse neighborhood has been lifted. >> reporter: for the first time since the black forest wildfire killed two and turned neighborhoods into charred wastelands some can go home. >> what's it like to be going back. >> it's fantastic. it really is. you don't realize how important home is until you have to give it up for awhile. >> reporter: the battle of black forest turned in favor of firefighters as the skies opened up helping quench the massive blaze near colorado springs. >> the rains did help a lot. fire trucks from the sky do a lot of good for us. >> reporter: it destroyed at least 473 h

for "good morning america," clayton sandell, abc news, denver. >>> now, to a shooting rampage in north carolina, where four people were hurt. police say a man armed with a shotgun first shot someone outside of a law firm in greenville. he then crossed a busy five-lane road and shot three more people outside of a walmart before police took him down. no word this morning on his motive. >>> an employee at an exotic animal refuge is in critical condition this morning after she was attacked by a tiger. take a look. 21-year-old marissa dubb. she was cleaning the cage at the refuge in center point, indiana, when she was attacked. police say she forgot to close the gate. so, she and that tiger ended up in the same part of the cage. witnesses say the animal had dubb's head in its mouth. she had a fractured jaw and other injuries. but she is expected to survive. >>> and finally, police officers never know what to expect when they pull over a car. but a passenger in the backseat gave one officer in texas a big surprise. take a look at this video. you can see officer keith moore, yeah, handing the

here is clayton sandell. >> reporter: this morning allison lear, granddaughter of lear jet founder bills an accused felon. prosecutors say she's a liar and a fraud. it all began after the man she called her husband, race car driver alexander djordjevic, was killed in june 2010 during a mountain road race in nevada. lear was arrested on saturday inside this las vegas nightclub because police say they were never really married. lear allegedly faked the marriage license, forging signatures to make it appear they tied the knot five days before he died. >> i would not say he was deep in love but he was dating her. >> reporter: alexander's father says his son had known lear a short time, never talking of marriage. >> alex would tell us. we was close. he would never do things like that without knowledge of the family. >> reporter: police say that by acting as his wife, lear was able to keep his body from being released to his family for three months. they also allege she kept his expensive cars, gun collection and jewelry. >> i believe she's after his estate and his money. >> reporter: lear's

clayton sandel, abc news, denver. >> the house voted to ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancyance to pass the democratic controlled senate. the white house vowed the president would veto the bill if it reaches his desk. american medical association, officially recognized obesity as a disease. the classification has no legal authority but could change the way the medical community deals with the condition. experts say doctors may more pay more attention to obesity and diseases linked to it. insurers may pay for treatments. including obesity drugs, surgery and counseling. >> chrysler made an about-face in defiance of a government order to recall 3 million jeeps. the government claims 51 people have died in fires, sparked by rear end crashes because of the placement of the gas tank. chrysler insists there's no defect, but will now install a trailer hitch on jeeps, which will help absorb rear impact crashes. >> president obama wraps up his european visit with a speech on reducing the american nuclear arsenal. president obama will speak at historic brandenburg gate 50 years after p

abc's clayton sandel looks at why this is happening so often. >> reporter: out of control fires chewingolorado some residents are coming back to the black forest finding 500 homes reduced to ash. >> i can't even tell what the hell anything is. >> reporter: highly destructive fire seasons are becoming the new normal. partly because more people are building homes like this in overgrown forests. scientists say it is made much worse by climate change. climate experts blame extreme drought and global temperatures running hotter than average every single month for 28 years straight. and research shows wildfires already burning bigger and more often. on average, torching twice as much ground as 40 years ago. plus fire season is now two months longer than it used to be. relief from rain may help in the short term. but the long-term picture looks a lot like this. clayton sandel, abc news, morrison, colorado. >> rain triggering widespread flooding in parts of canada and the city of calgary, raging floodwaters washing out roads and bridges. take a look at the video. carrying away cars and furnitur

clayton sandel, abc news, denver. >>> roads are buckling in texas and warnings about power use are goingnues with accuweather meteorologist jim dickey tracking the oppressive heat. good morning, jim. >> good morning, john and diana. well, temperatures primed to soar here from the west coast down on into the southern plains into texas. all this congestion continues to rage its way north, and this heat will just continue to build as a result. some daytime highs here, friday. 104 in dallas, 101 in houston, 100 oklahoma city, and this doesn't factor in the humidity. when you factor in the humidity. feeling warmer than this. across the west, temperatures soaring to flirting with 130 degrees this weekend in death valley. john and diana, back to you. >> jim dickey, thank you for that. >>> and there are more allegations of wrongdoing this morning against former new england patriot aaron hernandez. police are back at his house in boston, right outside of boston. and abc news has learned that hernandez is being investigated in connection with a drive-by shooting that left two men dead in boston la

clayton san dell clayton sandel, abc news, denver. >> they see the smoke from colorado springs can belumes of smoke. it is just endless, as far as the eye can see. talking about an enormous couple fires. >> beautiful homes too. >> oh, yeah, million dollar homes. talking about 3,600 people having to be evacuated right now. talking about upping the evacuations. the fire continues to spread. >> fast too. >> yes. conditions are not helping out there. now to southern california where everyone involved with one high school considers themselves very lucky this morning. because an explosion in the gym which blew up the building's roof. took place just before classes started yesterday. it happened in a boiler room causing heavy damage inside, but no serious injuries. students who heard it were stunned. >> we hear a boom. an explosion. >> just like the wall shook. what happened? >> lights go off. everything goes off. >> the fire department says the blast was caused by a mechanical failure with the boiler itself or perhaps a gas leak. the explosion was so powerful it sent one door flying about 7

abc's clayton sandel is in the fire zone. >> reporter: the destruction is staggering.of this community goes out to the family and friends they leave behind. >> reporter: these just a few of the many homes now burned off to the ground. this was ted robertson's house, the last time he saw it. when he came back he found this. >> i have never lived through anything like this. >> reporter: now the military has joined the battle. give me some water! firefighters from the air force academy up the road are stomping flames on the road. planes and helicopters bombing hot spots from above. 41,000 people now under mandatory orders to evacuate. this is one of the houses in danger. you can see from the sign the people here have already left taking no chances. but check it out. before they left they mounted sprinklers on the roof and left them running just in case. >> the most important thing is the people and the animals. and the rest of it -- it any just stuff. >> reporter: mike trees and his family are leaving their escape complicated by a regular noah's ark, four dogs, two horses

here is abc's clayton sandel. >> reporter: james holmes is accused of opening fire during screening of the "dark knight rises" prosecutors want the death penalty. holmes, some times yawning, spoke only once. the judge asked if he had any questions. holmes answered no. you couldn't hear him because the the judge would not allow sound in court. holmes will now be sent to a state hospital for a mental evaluation. the judge also ruled prosecutors can now read a notebook holmes sent to his psychiatrist before the shooting. police say it may contain details on how holmes planned to carry out the attack. >> we want to move on and get this done and get it over with so we can move on with our lives. >> reporter: josh nolan shot knows any resolution for victims and families could be a long way off. >> if it takes years, i would look to come to the courthouse to get closure and move on. i will come here every week if i have to. >> reporter: defense attorneys have sent the judge 89 court motions among many requests they want conversations between holmes and investigators thrown out. they also want

the military has been called in, and abc's clayton sandell has the very latest from colorado springs,olorado. clayton? >> reporter: good morning, amy. you can see all brand-new roadblock because overnight the evacuation area has expanded and in some neighborhoods this erratic fire is turning back around, bringing new danger to areas firefighters thought were safe. this morning, quickly shifting winds are making this fire dangerously unpredictable. >> the fire has now doubled back, properties that we have identified as standing are now engulfed in flames. >> reporter: as the black forest fire near colorado springs grows, lena is soaking her house with a garden hose. >> this is all wet. that might help us have a better chance. >> reporter: the sheriff says one person who chose to stay may be missing. >> one of my worst fears is that people took their chances and it may have cost them their life. >> reporter: in 24 hours, raging flames wiped away at least 92 home. jeannette thought hers survived until she saw it on tv. >> i can't believe -- it was awful to watch it just burn down. and ou

and abc's clayton sandell is there, on the front lines, in colorado springs, colorado. od morning, clayton. >> reporter: good morning, josh. overnight, this entire neighborhood was told to evacuate. 38,000 people are now out of their homes. and now, everyone's worst fear about this fire has come true. this morning, the monster wildfire that's already claimed so many homes is now a killer. >> the worst-case scenario that we could imagine. >> reporter: the remains of two people, found in the rubble of a garage. they were apparently overrun by flames, churning at full tilt. >> they were packing their personal belongings, trying to get out. >> reporter: the black forest wildfire is now colorado's most destructive ever. overnight, we went to the front lines. you can see in this area, lots of active flame. and there are houses just beyond those trees. at least 379 homes here, burned to their foundations. cars left behind, melted. firefighters, knocked down flames before they could reach the front door of this mansion. >> the homes range from a log cabin built in the '50s to ma

abc's clayton sandell is in colorado springs, colorado. good morning, clayton. >> reporter: good morning, george. you can see from the smoke that this fire is still burning out of control. and this morning, 6,000 people are out of their homes, chased away be this 8,000-acre monster. overnight, thousands of people told to leave home had to race to escape giant flames. they loaded up horses and as much of their lives as they could carry. >> we took photographs. things that we can't replace, we brought with us. other than that, we're saying fire insurance has a reason for it. >> reporter: flames are hopscotching through dry trees and brush. along the way, destroying dozens of homes. >> our commander is estimating somewhere between 40 and 60. you can easily assume that is higher than that. >> reporter: smoke could be seen more than 70 miles away. >> this plume is just enormous. it goes on for miles and miles. and miles. >> reporter: with winds and record-hot temperatures, the weather could not be much worse. denver hit 100 degrees tuesday, a hi

abc's clayton sandell has the latest from colorado springs, colorado. good morning, clayton. >> reporter: good morning, robin. this morning firefighters are heading out from this command post hunting for hot spots trying to make sure this monster inferno doesn't come roaring back to life and this morning federal investigators are also being called in to help. this morning as firefighters continue to beat back the flames, agents from the atf are on their way to help investigate how the fire got its start by accident or on purpose? so far, the black forest blaze has killed two people, destroyed nearly 500 homes and created a disaster zone still too hot to let some evacuees go home. >> we have a crime scene in there, fire in there. downed power lines in there. >> reporter: wind-driven flames burned in random patterns leaving some homes untouched. this house still standing amidst all the destruction around it. >> there is a little luck involved. >> reporter: some of the lucky ones are coming home. >> feel like you dodged a bul t bullet? >> more than one. >>

abc's clayton sandell, joining us with more on this. clayton?d diana. you know, paris jackson is a member of one of the most famous families on the planet. and this morning the family is rallying around one of its own. the call to 911 came from this house in calabasas, california, around 1:30 wednesday morningo o 15, o.d.'d on 20 motrin and cut her arm with a kitchen knife. >> reporter: paris jackson, michael jackson's 15-year-old daughter, was rushed to the hospital. a possible overdose. >> this was a serious suicide attempt. this was not a cry for help. >> reporter: paris was only 11 when her father died in 2009. >> daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine. >> reporter: along with her brothers, prince and blanket, paris is now under the care of her grandmother, katherine jackson. she is now suing a concert promoter she blames for her son's death. paris is both a plaintiff and witness in the case. >> the jackson attorneys have done all we can to keep this trial as the far away from the jackson children and paris as possible. >> repor