A convicted felon has been arrested over his alleged role in igniting one of the destructive Washington State wildfires that have razed more than 700 structures and triggered evacuation orders for at least 67,000 people.
Aaron F. Farinacci, 37, was taken into custody without incident and booked on suspicion of arson in connection with the Old Trails Fire, one of three major blazes that have already ranked among the most damaging fires in Washington’s history.
Farinacci previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2012 after killing his father during a 2010 fight, Fox News reported at the time.
He had first been charged with first-degree murder in that case, but the charge was later dismissed, KHQ reported.
Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney Preston McCollam referred to Farinacci’s criminal record and said he had previously been questioned about “arson-related behavior.”
The investigation began after a witness reported seeing a man around 10 a.m. Saturday kneeling near the fire and looking into the trees before he “stood up and looked very nervous” and walked away, according to Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels.
Farinacci was detained and interviewed later that day, but authorities initially released him.
By Sunday, detectives said they had connected him to the Old Trails Fire. Nowels said investigators “determined that the origin of the fire was indeed exactly where the witnesses had seen Mr. Farinacci kneeling in the grass.”
A convicted felon has been arrested in connection with one of the devastating wildfires that has already destroyed over 700 buildings and forced at least 67,000 evacuations in Washington State. Pictured: Aaron F Farinacci (right) is taken into custody
Over 67,000 people have been displaced in Washington state as wildfires erupted across a dry landscape this weekend and into Monday
Spokane County authorities detained Farinacci with the help of a SWAT team after getting a warrant for his arrest Monday. Police said he had waterproof matches and a butane lighter on him.
He is being held on $1 million bond. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Multiple wildfires erupted across a dry landscape in Washington state this weekend and continued on Monday as more than thousands remain displaced from the blaze.
The fires in the Spokane area – the state’s second largest city – were among dozens across the Western US, stretching the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them.
Prior to the arson charge, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson had called it ‘likely the worst natural disaster in Spokane’s history.’
At least 390 square miles has burned across Washington, with a spokesperson for the state’s Department of Natural Resources saying they have not been contained.
Body camera footage posted by Spokane Firefighters showed the blazes and the resulting smoke roaring in the middle of a highway as they attempted to tamp down the fire.
About 700 buildings had been destroyed – a number that was expected to climb – and some 67,000 people were under evacuation orders. The cause was under investigation.
They fires in the Spokane area – the state’s second largest city – were among dozens across the Western US, stretching the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them
Other footage of the fire aftermath showed scores of homes burned to the ground, with only their brick fireplaces and foundations remaining, while other houses nearby escaped practically unscathed.
Calmer winds and lower temperatures arrived to help firefighters, but it was expected to be hot and dry again by midweek.
The state’s entire congressional delegation asked President Donald Trump to approve an expedited emergency declaration.
‘Hundreds of people have completely lost their homes and farms, and many are prohibited from returning to their homes or neighborhoods as crews continue to extinguish smoldering embers,’ they said in a statement.
In one Spokane neighborhood, blackened vehicles, a boat twisted by the heat and melted plastic recycling bins remained.
Across the street, lawns were still green and houses were spared, as residents continued to run hoses or sprinklers to water their properties.
Cpl. Mark Gregory, a spokesperson for the Spokane County Sheriff´s Office, said the county initially received nearly 300 reports of missing people, but by Monday they had cleared all but 14.
Authorities are attempting to make contact with those 14 people whom they have failed to reach by cell phone but are not yet presumed missing, Sheriff John Nowels told a press conference Monday.
Miriam Sim, 76, reacts while talking about her neighborhood largely burning to the ground after a wildfire hit the northern part of Spokane
Spokane Firefighters give their view of battling the uncontained blazes
A view of a burned neighborhood in the Old Trails Fire
A handout photo made available by the Spokane Valley Fire Department shows the Fairview Fire northeast of Spokane
Mayor Lisa Brown said authorities were combing the city block by block to assess damages and potential reignition, and couldn’t tell people yet when they could return home.
‘It could be weeks, depending on where your home and property is,’ she said.
‘I think from a historical standpoint, this is likely the worst natural disaster in Spokane’s history,’ Washington Governor Bob Ferguson added.
Ferguson declared a state of emergency on August 1, citing drought conditions that have stretched four consecutive years, unusually high temperatures and high winds exacerbating record-setting wildfires.
Those outstanding reports more likely represented people who had not been in contact since evacuating than people who were truly missing or in danger, authorities said.
Authorities warned people not to fly drones near the burned areas, saying it could force them to delay aerial firefighting operations.
Officials said Sunday that the evacuees in Spokane included patients at its U.S. Veterans Affairs hospital. Investigators had yet to determine how the blazes started.
Spokane was hardly the only place struggling to contain fires.
An American flag stands at a burned structure in a residential area of Westgate after a wildfire
Aaren Hartley, 8, uses a shovel to sift through the remains of his grandparents’ home after a wildfire hit the northern part of Spokane
Three members of the Spokane Fire Department sit on a curb in front of burned out residential homes in the Balboa neighborhood
A charred vehicle and structures on N. Westgate Pl. are in ruins due to the wildfire
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A lightning-caused fire that has burned over 530 square miles of grassland in western Idaho and eastern Oregon continued to grow Monday.
The area is home to cattle ranches, and authorities said the fire is threatening more than 600 homes and 800 other structures.
In central Utah, a blaze quadrupled in size over the weekend to nearly 109 square miles by Monday afternoon.
More than 100 cattle have been killed, according to law enforcement.
Heavy winds helped flames jump containment lines, but forward progression was slowed toward Fillmore, a town of about 2,600 people and the seat of Millard County, officials said.
Mandatory evacuations were ordered Sunday evening for the town’s southern portion, and inmates at the county jail were transferred.
In Spokane, about 400 people were staying at city’s main convention center, which was turned into a shelter, officials said.
Spokane Public Schools opened a free emergency drop-in camp for children on Monday. Trials at the county court were pushed to Aug. 10.
The Spokane fires follow ‘one of the warmest winters on record for eastern Washington,’ which led to a severe snow drought
Mandatory evacuations were ordered Sunday evening for the town’s southern portion, and inmates at the county jail were transferred
A firefighter works to put out a fire at a home as a wildfire burns in Spokane County
The remains of a home destroyed by a wildfire in the Spokane area
Several larger fires continued to burn in less populated areas northwest of Spokane.
The Spokane fires follow ‘one of the warmest winters on record for eastern Washington,’ which led to a severe snow drought, said Daniel Swain, a climatologist at the University of California, Los Angeles.
‘This is a recurring pattern we’re seeing now over and over and over again, starting in the second decade of the 21st century, and now continuing essentially every year,’ he told an online briefing.
He pointed to the devastating fires in Los Angeles last year, major fires in Spain and France this year and in Hawaii in 2023.
The head of Washington’s Department of Natural Resources, David Upthegrove, said the fires in Spokane were among 16 major blazes burning throughout the state of Washington, covering 262,000 acres.
‘This is an extraordinary fire season,’ he said.
An outage map published by local utility Avista showed over 6,445 customers were without power due to the fires as of early Monday.
The biggest of the three fires burning in Spokane, the Old Trails fire, jumped the Spokane River on Saturday afternoon and crossed into the city proper.
