SPOKANE—Thirty-seven-year-old Aaron F. Farinacci of Spokane was arrested around 5 p.m. Monday and is being held on $1 million bail on suspicion of first-degree arson after investigators say he started the Old Trails Fire just north of Spokane. Farinacci is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.
Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels announced the arrest Monday evening. According to investigators, the case began Saturday morning when a resident reported seeing a man bending down along the roadside near Euclid Road and Old Trails Road. The same witness later saw the man again and contacted Airway Heights police. An officer located Farinacci about a mile and a half from the fire’s origin, questioned him, collected his information and released him at the time. Authorities say he was carrying waterproof matches and a butane lighter.
Detectives with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, working with the state Department of Natural Resources, later developed probable cause that Farinacci had been kneeling in the grass at the point of origin. The Old Trails Fire has been determined to be intentionally set. Sheriff Nowels said there is no indication Farinacci is connected to the other fires burning in the area.
Farinacci has a prior felony manslaughter conviction in Arizona. In 2010, as a 21-year-old in Mesa, he fatally shot his father during an argument over washing dishes, pointed a gun at his mother, then shot himself and survived.
Officials say the fires have destroyed hundreds of structures—estimates range from more than 600 to around 700, many of them homes. As many as 65,000 people were ordered to evacuate.
No deaths have been confirmed. Evacuation shelters, including one at the Spokane Convention Center, remain open.
Author: Mario Lotmore
