A 37-year-old convicted felon is behind bars on a million-dollar bond after authorities say he deliberately set the largest of three wildfires now burning across Spokane County, a disaster that has leveled at least 700 buildings and forced tens of thousands from their homes.
Aaron F. Farinacci was arrested Monday at his residence on the 2800 block of West Elliott Drive after Spokane County Sheriff's Office detectives and Washington Department of Natural Resources investigators obtained arrest and search warrants tying him to the Old Trails Fire. Deputies served the warrants without incident. During the search, officers found waterproof matches and a butane lighter on Farinacci, items consistent with evidence recovered at the fire's point of origin.
Farinacci now faces a first-degree arson charge and sits in Spokane County Jail on $1 million bond. The fire he allegedly started has joined two others, the Autumn Lane Fire and the Fairview Fire, in what Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson has called a catastrophe without precedent in the region.
The Old Trails Fire was first reported Saturday near North Old Trails Road and West Euclid Road. A citizen tip proved critical to the investigation. A witness reported seeing Farinacci kneeling near a grassy area, acting nervously, just before the blaze erupted. Airway Heights police officers who responded to the initial call captured body-worn camera footage that helped investigators confirm the suspect's identity.
Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said at a news briefing that first-degree arson was the charge supported by probable cause at this stage but cautioned that the case could evolve as authorities gathered more evidence.
Nowels made clear the investigation would not stop at the arson charge:
"We will be looking into any other crimes Mr. Farinacci may have committed in the past."
Investigators have not connected Farinacci to the Autumn Lane or Fairview fires. Whether those blazes are also suspected arson remains an open question.
Farinacci is not a first-time offender. Authorities described him as a convicted felon from Arizona, though they said they had found no documented criminal history involving fires. Just The News reported that Farinacci was previously convicted of felony manslaughter in Arizona for killing his own father.
That detail sharpens the profile of a man now accused of setting a fire that has upended tens of thousands of lives. How a convicted violent felon ended up living freely in Spokane, and allegedly igniting the worst wildfire disaster in the area's memory, is a question investigators and the public alike will want answered.
High-profile arrests of individuals with violent criminal histories have become a recurring pattern across the country. In one recent case, a bloodhound tracked down a convicted felon after a 10-hour manhunt in Georgia, underscoring how often dangerous offenders remain at large until something goes badly wrong.
The numbers are staggering. As of Monday, the three fires burning across Spokane County had collectively destroyed at least 700 structures. Evacuation orders covered roughly 67,000 people. More than 1,000 firefighters were battling the blazes across the region.
The Old Trails Fire, the one Farinacci allegedly started, remained uncontained Monday. Drought, unusually high temperatures, and strong winds had already created dangerous conditions before the fires broke out Saturday, which is why Gov. Ferguson declared a statewide wildfire emergency the same day. That declaration imposed a prohibition on most outdoor and agricultural burning statewide through September 30.
Ferguson, a Democrat, did not hold back about the possibility that the devastation was deliberate. He told reporters:
"It's a nightmare situation. This is likely the worst natural disaster in Spokane history."
He added that the arrest made the tragedy even harder to bear:
"It just takes a tragic situation and makes it more heartbreaking to think that much of this damage could have been caused by an individual doing this on purpose."
Behind the statistics are real people whose lives have been shattered. The New York Post spoke with residents who returned to survey the wreckage. Miriam Sim, 76, looked at the ruins of her home and offered a blunt verdict: "There's nothing to save." Wayde Deatherage, 49, found the same devastation waiting for him. "Our house is done," he said.
Those are the voices that matter most in a story like this, ordinary people who followed the rules, built their lives, and lost everything. If Farinacci did what authorities say he did, the damage he inflicted cannot be measured in structures alone. Entire neighborhoods are gone. Families have nothing to go back to.
Farinacci has not entered a public plea, and it remains unclear whether he has retained legal counsel. The Spokane County Sheriff's Office has not disclosed a motive. Sheriff Nowels confirmed that evidence at the scene suggested the fire may have been started with a match or lighter, consistent with the items found on Farinacci during his arrest.
Several gaps remain. Authorities have not said what specific citizen tips led them to Farinacci beyond the witness account. The precise acreage and containment status of each fire have not been publicly detailed. And investigators have not said whether the Autumn Lane and Fairview fires are also suspected arson or whether their causes remain under investigation.
The criminal justice system will now determine whether the evidence holds up. First-degree arson in Washington is a serious felony, and Nowels signaled that additional charges could follow as the probe widens. A million-dollar bond suggests prosecutors and the court view Farinacci as a significant flight risk or danger to the community, or both.
When 700 homes are reduced to ash and 67,000 people are driven from their neighborhoods, accountability is not optional. If the evidence proves what investigators allege, one man with a lighter and a violent past inflicted more damage on Spokane than most natural disasters ever could, and the system that left him free to do it owes those families an explanation.
