After winning re-election last fall, President-elect Donald Trump began quickly revealing who he would nominate for senior positions in the next administration.

But just days away from his inauguration—with wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area and California Gov. Gavin Newsom predicting one of the worst natural disasters in history—one key position remains unresolved: federal emergency Director of the Administration Bureau.

In a crisis like this, this is a big unanswered question. While Trump could announce his FEMA picks at any time, given his social media habits and unpredictable impulses, he has responded to the fire by making unsubstantiated accusations against Newsom and other Democrats.

However, Trump has identified a front-runner for the FEMA job. Three sources told NBC News that Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Department of Emergency Management, was at the top of the list of potential nominees.

Since being appointed to lead the Florida agency in 2021, Guthrie has led the state's response to four major hurricanes, including a Category 4 storm, as well as the response to an apartment collapse in South Florida that killed 98 people. In the process, he generally earned high marks from across the political spectrum for the state's response to these disasters.

Guthrie has worked in the emergency management industry his entire three-decade career. The then-Gov. Incumbent Republican Sen. Rick Scott appointed him chief of staff to the state's top emergency management agency in 2018. Gov. Ron DeSantis, also a Republican, appointed him in 2021 to lead the department.

Trump's transition team last week began considering Guthrie for the key position, sending a quick signal to Florida politics.

"I believe it's going to be Kevin," said one longtime Florida Republican. He said the state is ready to fill the void left by Guthrie's potential appointment. "He makes sense and all the signals we're getting point to him being the best candidate."

A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

One former DeSantis administration official called Guthrie a "no-brainer."

"He's led the state through some terrible storms. He's apolitical, he just gets the job done. FEMA will be lucky to have him," the person said. “The incoming Trump administration has sent a clear signal that he is the first choice, and I don’t blame them.

"That's who I would choose," the person added.

While Florida is more accustomed to hurricanes, the state does experience fires, although they are much less destructive than the fires currently raging in California. Last year, more than 24,000 acres burned in the state, including four severe wildfires.

Guthrie is generally viewed as a nonpartisan and has not been directly involved in many of the state's high-profile culture wars, even as DeSantis, who appointed him, built his political brand on those conflicts.

"I don't think Democrats would have a real objection to that choice," the former DeSantis administration staffer said. "He's in the emergency game, not partisan politics."

Wildfires in the Los Angeles area have multiplied since they broke out on January 7 due to high winds and dry weather. As of Monday evening, 24 people had been killed and more than 12,000 buildings and structures destroyed. Evacuation orders remain in effect.

Federal agency staff, who are not career employees serving the president, are accustomed to providing cover for political appointees as one administration transitions to another and the new president's nominees await Senate confirmation. FEMA is no exception. Agency spokesman Daniel Llargues said career staff will "play a role" during the transition to give political appointees time to "slowly settle in."

Llargues said district administrator Tony Robinson, a 37-year veteran, will serve as acting administrator until Trump's nominee is confirmed.

Trump has yet to publicly share his thoughts on how his administration will handle wildfires when he returns to office next week. He has privately discussed tying future wildfire aid to a deal to raise the debt ceiling with congressional Republicans, Politico and the news site NOTUS reported Monday.

Lori Lordes, executive director of the progressive group Climate Power, expressed concern that Trump and Republicans would hinge aid on unrelated legislative items.

"The only reason wildfire aid has not been acted upon is because Donald Trump thinks he can use a tragedy to gain some political concessions," Lords said in a statement to NBC News. "He can make it now. choice to help the American people, or he could make the disaster worse when he becomes president."

In an interview with Newsmax on Monday, Trump said he was assessing the damage by "putting a developer cap on it" before being surprised by the damage.

"I believe it was more damaging than if they were hit with a nuke. I've never seen anything like this - miles and miles of homes burned to ashes," he said. "There's nothing left, and they're going to find a lot of bodies. You know, only dogs can find them, right? You know, German shepherds can."

Newsom invites Trump to investigate wildfire damage. Sources familiar with the conversations told NBC News this week that Trump's team has been discussing a visit to Los Angeles. It was unclear whether the visit took place before or after Trump's inauguration on Monday.

In an interview with NBC News' "Meet the Press" last week, Newsom blasted Trump for spreading what he said was "misinformation and disinformation" about the fires. Trump blamed President Joe Biden, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Newsom, with the original cause of the fire still unclear and the circumstances of its spread complicated. Trump baselessly linked conservation efforts for the Delta smelt, a small, endangered fish, to water supply problems plaguing firefighters.

"The governor's focus is protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need," Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon wrote in an emailed statement Tuesday.

Newsom expressed hope in the "Meet the Press" interview that he can work with Trump and praised Biden's outgoing administration for its response.

"On behalf of the 40 million Americans who live in California, I feel blessed that Joe Biden was president of the United States and immediately did what he did," Newsom said. "As long as we can work together with the same relationship and the same spirit Working with Donald Trump, I hope we can do that."