AMNA NAWAZ: January's wildfires in Southern California killed at least 29 people and left thousands without homes, juggling insurance claims, and questions over whether to rebuild.

Another huge loss amid all the rubble, the legacy of historic buildings throughout Los Angeles County.

Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown has this look for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

JEFFREY BROWN: First, of course, come the individual lives, livelihoods and homes, an enormous devastation measured in thousands of very specific losses.

But the story of a community, a city, a region is also told through its cultural, historical and architectural heritage.

And here too the recent Los Angeles fires have been devastating.

Adrian Scott Fine is president and CEO of the Los Angeles Conservancy.

ADRIAN SCOTT FINE, President and CEO, Los Angeles Conservancy: Los Angeles says many things, and certainly that is the case for the Palisades and Altadena.

It's not one thing.

It's layers of history.

You have to work for it a little harder to understand its story, its heritage, and why it's important.

But it's here, and I think, again, now we're understanding just how important it was and also so much we have lost.

JEFFREY BROWN: In normal times, the Conservancy works to bring out that story, documenting and preserving buildings and other parts of the culture.

Now it's a documentation of loss, just beginning to assess the possibility of rebuilding and restoration.

ADRIAN SCOTT FINE: Within a almost a blink of an eye, everything that really forms the ingredients of your community disappear.

Those places and spaces, I think people understand how important they actually are in our lives.

And we all, I think for myself and others, just understanding the losses here, also realizing that we take heritage and these places and spaces for granted, that I'm now lamenting that I didn't visit some of these places or I didn't, fully experiencing them before they're gone.

And I don't think I'm alone in terms of processing that right now.

JEFFREY BROWN: Major losses include structures within the Will Rogers State Historic Park in Pacific Palisades.

Originally built for the fame actor and humorist, it became a beloved getaway for generations to hike, picnic, enjoy movie nights, and even polo games.

ADRIAN SCOTT FINE: This is a seminal part of the story of the Palisades, a figure like Will Rogers, sort of this folk hero, actor, beloved figure for his time period.

And this was his ranch, his house.

The main barn burned and other buildings as part of that historic homestead.

And that was hugely significant in terms of the loss.

The land is still there, but the buildings that really helped tell that story are now gone.

JEFFREY BROWN: Also gone, buildings and housing developments that have made Los Angeles architecturally unique, the 100-year-old Nature Friends clubhouse in Sierra Madre, a Bavarian-style lodge that had been a sanctuary for nature and art lovers.

Tahitian Terrace mobile home park along the beach in the Palisades, an ocean view for hundreds without the multimillion-dollar price tag, 20 of the 28 so-called Park Planned Homes in Altadena, a groundbreaking social experiment of prefabricated homes for working-class families designed to foster a connection between nature and neighbors.

ADRIAN SCOTT FINE: Certainly, there's places that are the architectural icons, and those are the ones that are kind of easy to grasp and understand why they're important.

But it's also community churches.

We have a number of churches, synagogue that have been completely destroyed through this fire.

And those are community touch points.

Those are things that people are so incredibly connected to in terms of feeling like it's part of their home.

Same goes for schools that have been destroyed through this fire.

JEFFREY BROWN: Some architectural icons survived, including the Eames home in Pacific Palisades, designed and constructed in 1949 by husband and wife Charles and Ray Eames, two of the 20th century's most influential designers, to serve as their home and studio.

Also preserved, other of the so-called Case Study Houses from the 1940s, '50s and '60s originally designed to be models for affordable postwar homes for family living.

And the Burns House designed by famed architect Charles Moore.

What's the task now for your Conservancy?

ADRIAN SCOTT FINE: Our goal is to try to help the buildings that did survive that were only damaged and to bring in resources, whether it's a preservation architect or a structural engineer that can help an owner figure out how do they rebuild, what's the next step, how do they stabilize the building that's still standing?

The unfortunate reality that we're seeing is most of the buildings, the historic buildings or entire neighborhoods were completely decimated.

And so that is a much different concept in terms of what does rebuilding look like, in terms of how do we rebuild with heritage in mind, how do we rebuild with the people that were there before and allow and want to ensure that they come back?

And that is really built on that foundation.

I think that is something everyone is grappling about.

What does that look like?

How long is that going to take?

JEFFREY BROWN: Is it too early to think about rebuilding some of these cultural heritage sites, especially from a safety point of view?

ADRIAN SCOTT FINE: I don't think it's too early, but I do think we need to take a beat and really think through about what does this look like?

But it's also raising new questions about, in an environment that we're dealing with now and knowing that wildfires are likely in the future, how do we rebuild in a way that is safer, more resilient, more fire-retardant in terms of this?

So I think it's raising lots of questions that we need a thoughtful process.

JEFFREY BROWN: The Conservancy is just now starting to go into impacted areas and is working to create a complete map of heritage sites and resources.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Jeffrey Brown.