standing amid the debris. what is it like? >> reporter: just heartbreaking. you can see these two buildings have just collapsed into a pile of rubble. you would think this was a construction zone. there are individual bricks lying there, and there is a swarm of firefighters. i would say over a dozen firefighters that keep moving in on top of the pile, pulling out bricks, one by one. almost as if they were deconstructing like a pixie stick set. there is a plume of smoke from the center, very, very hot, appears to be on fire. you can see something golden in the center. and two hoses up on ladders shooting right into the middle. now, i spoke also with a woman who was leaving the scene about a half block away, absolutely hysterical. she lives on the second floor of the building that is completely collapsed. and she said that her building is residents over a church. this morning at about 9:00, just after 9:00, she leaves to go to school. says goodbye to her husband. and as she is walking through the building, she says the smell