A 37-year-old man was arrested Monday in connection with one of the destructive wildfires burning through eastern Washington, as evacuees across the Spokane area waited anxiously to learn whether their homes were still standing.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspect as Aaron F. Farinacci, 37, and said he was booked on suspicion of arson tied to the Old Trails Fire. He remained jailed on a $1 million bond. It was not immediately known whether Farinacci had an attorney available to comment on the allegations.
The Old Trails Fire, which ignited Saturday, is one of several blazes burning near Spokane, Washington’s second-largest city. Together, the fires rank among the most damaging in state history, destroying at least 700 structures and prompting evacuation orders for about 67,000 people.
By Monday, some residents were allowed back into neighborhoods where weekend wildfires had swept across the dry landscape. Many returned to scenes of devastation: yards buried in ash, homes reduced to rubble and, in some places, only chimneys left upright.
“There’s nothing to save,” Miriam Sim, 76, said as she stood with her husband, Daniel Sim, amid the remains of the home they had lived in since 2005.
“At our age, do we want to rebuild?” Daniel Sim asked.
The fires crossed roads and rivers and had scorched roughly 12.5 square miles by Monday, sending smoke and haze across the region. Lighter winds and cooler temperatures gave firefighters a brief advantage, though forecasters expected hot, dry weather to return by midweek.
In one Spokane neighborhood, the damage was stark and uneven. Burned-out vehicles, a heat-warped boat and melted recycling bins sat on one side of the street, while across the way, green lawns and intact homes remained as residents kept hoses and sprinklers running to protect their properties.
“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,” the state’s entire congressional delegation wrote Monday in asking President Donald Trump to approve an expedited emergency declaration.
No deaths or major injuries have been reported so far
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.
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.
The Spokane-area wildfires were completely uncontained, fire officials said. More than 1,000 firefighters, many from out of state, had arrived by Monday, and that number was expected to double in the next few days.
The fires were among dozens across the Western US stretching the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them. At least 390 square miles has burned across Washington, which has contended with severe drought and a paltry snowpack.
Authorities warned people not to fly drones near the burned areas, saying it could force them to delay aerial firefighting operations.
Homes, cars and possessions have been lost in flames
Angela and Wayde Deatherage, both 49, evacuated shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday with a son, grabbing a few bins of family photos and heirloom rings but not much else. Roughly 30 minutes later, their security camera was sending fire notifications to Angela’s phone.
Wayde Deatherage took some back roads and returned by early evening. He stopped at the end of the street and called his wife: “Our house is done.”
Deatherage, however, wasn’t done with his neighborhood. He propped a hose at another house so it sprayed the property. That home survived.
The couple returned to their property Sunday.
“It’s just ash,” Angela Deatherage said of the home where they had lived for nearly 22 years. ”It’s like our house sunk down in the basement. … There’s just so much loss for so many people.”
Karen Faggioli, 61, figured she would be returning to her home. She recalled how other recent fires had been brought under control. But a relative texted her the bad news: Her house and three vehicles were destroyed. A daughter lost her nearby house, too.
“Why cry? What’s crying going to do? I’ve been through so many tragedies myself,” said Faggioli, who is recovering from breast cancer. “This is nothing. Like I told my granddaughter, ‘We’re strong — and now we get all new things.’ I’m emotionally numb.”
Friends and relatives of fire victims posted online appeals for money, clothes and basic necessities.
Grassland burns in Idaho, Oregon and Utah
Spokane was hardly the only place struggling to contain fires.
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.
Spokane sets up shelter for impacted residents
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.
Several larger fires continued to burn in less populated areas northwest of Spokane.
