Figuring out what started a wildfire can be a daunting challenge.

Especially when the culprit isn’t what — as in a lightning bolt — but rather who.

Officials have confirmed that three recent fires that have burned more than 240,000 acres in Malheur and Harney counties — 375 square miles, 87% of the size of Multnomah County — were started by people.

Another blaze, which threatened homes in Huntington and burned into Farewell Bend State Park, forcing campers to evacuate, was also human-caused.

But we don’t yet know whether the people involved are guilty of carelessness or of a crime.

Ideally, investigators will be able to answer that question soon.

Regardless of whether the Cow Valley, Falls, Bonita Road and Huntington fires, along with several other smaller blazes, resulted from negligence or arson, the public deserves to know what happened. The Falls Fire has destroyed buildings. It and the Cow Valley Fire threatened other homes and closed major highways. The Cow Valley Fire has scorched dozens of square miles of private and public grazing land that many ranchers depend on to feed their cattle.

That land won’t produce any forage the rest of this year.

And depending on the weather over the next several months, it’s possible that none of those burned acres will feed cattle next year, either. The scorched ground is also more prone to erosion, and valuable habitat for sage grouse, mule deer and elk, among other species, has been degraded, likely for many years.

Legally, agencies can potentially seek restitution, to offset the firefighting costs, if they can conclusively prove who started any of the fires — even if it was an accident rather than intentional.

In the case of the Cow Valley and Falls fires, the tab will run into the millions.

The Malheur County Sheriff’s Office, BLM, Oregon State Police and Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office are investigating the blazes, and they have offered a monetary award (the amount hasn’t been announced) for information that helps investigators identify the people responsible for the fires.

The Forest Service is also seeking information about who started the Falls Fire in Harney and Grant counties.

The effort to get financial compensation for firefighting costs can potentially keep the public from learning more about the cause of fires, however.

An October 2022 blaze that burned on the foothill southwest of Baker City, for instance. The Oregon Department of Forestry still hasn’t released information about that fire — the Baker City Herald made a public records request but was rejected by a state Department of Justice attorney — because the state could take legal action to try to recoup firefighting costs.

That’s a worthwhile goal, obviously.

But officials shouldn’t use it as an excuse to withhold information from the public.