alex silverman, a journalist covering the los angeles fires.espondent helena humphrey. nothing prepares you for this amount of destruction. imean... there's no manual. there's no book. it's hard to put into words the level of devastation here, but the la county sheriff put it bluntly. in some areas, he said, it looks like a bomb had been dropped. so far land more than twice the size of manhattan lies in ruins. and still these fires rage out of control. on thursday, a brief lull in those fierce santa ana winds allowed aircraft to streak across the skies, dropping water and fire retardant onto the flames. but there's no guarantee that that calm will last, with forecasters warning more winds could fan these infernos even further. some residents have ventured back, bracing themselves for what they'd find, only to discover their homes reduced to little more than ash. many told us they're simply too devastated to speak on camera. these fires don't discriminate, tearing through every kind of neighbourhood from lavish mansions to humble bungalows, all