At least 28 people are believed to be dead and more than a dozen others remain unaccounted for as multiple wildfires rage across Southern California.

Reality TV couple Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt are suing the city of Los Angeles after losing their home in the destructive fires that have swept Southern California in the past weeks.

The Hughes Fire burned some 10,176 acres but that figure held steady throughout the day as 4,000 firefighters dropped water and retardant from the air and used hand tools and hoses on the ground.

The question of who is in charge is testimony to the diffusion and, at times, dysfunction that make up the core DNA of the governance of the greater Los Angeles area.

Advisers to California Gov. Gavin Newsom spent the week monitoring new White House advance staffers’ social media accounts, hoping for clues for where President Donald Trump might be headed when he lands in Los Angeles on Friday afternoon to talk about the wildfire damage.