What goes into finding the cause of a wildfire? [Video]

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — West Metro Fire Rescue investigators said lightning is the likely cause of a Tuesday night fire that burned a small plot of open space land near Ken Caryl Avenue and C-470.

Multiple videos show lightning hitting the area shortly before firefighters responded to extinguish the fire.

“We had a pretty good idea how this one started,” said investigator Matt Araki. “But it’s not always this easy.”

Araki said the overwhelming majority of the fires they investigate turn out to be human-caused, and finding the place where the fire started is key to the investigation.

“Generally, I like to consider everything arson until I rule it out,” said Araki. “It may have human-caused, but it may not have been intentional, so we have to find these things …