LOS ANGELES — Many watched their homes burn on television in a state of shock.

Since the flames erupted in and around Los Angeles, scores of residents have returned to their still smoldering neighborhoods even as the threat of new fires persisted and the nation’s second-largest city remained unsettled. For some, it was a first look at the staggering reality of what was lost as the region grapples with the gargantuan challenge of overcoming the disaster and rebuilding.

Metropolitan LA and its 13 million residents, who haven’t seen rain in more than eight months, woke up Friday to another day of strong winds that later eased, enabling firefighters to start gaining some control of the biggest blazes.

Bridget Berg, who was at work when she saw on TV her house in Altadena erupt in flames, came back for the first time with her family two days later “just to make it real.”

Their feet crunched across the broken bits of what had been their home for 16 years.

Her kids sifted through debris on the sidewalk, finding a clay pot and a few keepsakes as they searched for Japanese wood prints they hoped to recover. Her husband pulled his hand out of rubble near the still-standing fireplace, holding up a piece of petrified wood handed down by his grandmother.

“It’s OK. It’s OK,” Berg said as she took stock of the destruction, describing the deck and pool from which her family watched fireworks. “It’s not like we just lost our house — everybody lost their house.”

The fires have burned more than 12,000 homes and other structures, when they first began popping up around a densely populated, 25-mile expanse north of downtown LA. No cause has been identified yet for the largest fires.

Allegations of leadership failures and political blame have started and so have investigations. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered state officials to determine why a 117 million-gallon reservoir was out of service and some hydrants ran dry, calling it “deeply troubling.” Meanwhile, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said city leadership failed her department by not providing enough money for firefighting. She also criticized the lack of water.

“When a firefighter comes up to a hydrant, we expect there’s going to be water,” she said.

At least 11 people have been killed, with five from the Palisades Fire and six from the Eaton Fire, according to the LA County medical examiner’s office. Officials said they expected that number to rise as cadaver dogs go through leveled neighborhoods to assess the devastation to an area larger than San Francisco. Officials on Friday set up a center where people could report those missing. Roughly 150,000 people remained under evacuation orders, and the fires have consumed about 56 square miles.

The disaster took homes from everyone — from waiters to movie stars. The government has not yet released figures on the cost of the damage, but private firms have estimated it will climb into the tens of billions.

The flames hit schools, churches, a synagogue, libraries, boutiques, bars, restaurants, banks and local landmarks like the Will Rogers’ Western Ranch House and a Queen Anne-style mansion in Altadena that dated back to 1887 and was commissioned for wealthy map-maker Andrew McNally.

Neighbors wandered around ruins Friday with distant looks over the debris as they described now-vanished bedrooms, recently remodeled kitchens and outdoor living spaces. Some talked about the gorgeous views that drew them to their properties, their words contrasting sharply with the scene of soot and ash.

In the coastal community of Pacific Palisades, Greg Benton surveyed where he lived for 31 years, hoping to find his great-grandmother’s wedding ring in the wreckage.

“We just had just had Christmas morning right over here, right in front of that chimney. And this is what’s left,” he said, pointing to the blackened rubble that was once his living room. “It’s those small family heirlooms that are the ones that really hurt the most.”

Elsewhere in the city, people at collection sites picked through cardboard boxes of donated items to restart their lives.

Firefighters made progress for the first time since Tuesday containing the Eaton Fire north of Pasadena that has burned more than 7,000 structures, a term that includes homes, apartment buildings, businesses, outbuildings and vehicles.