By Breitbart News Network | Created at 2026-08-04 18:20:15 | Updated at 2026-08-06 20:11:01
2 days ago
A man with a previous manslaughter conviction is accused of starting a major fire in Spokane, Washington, that has devastated community members as other fires rage in the area.
The suspect was identified as 37-year-old Aaron Farinacci who was arrested Monday and is being held on a $1 million bond, NBC News reported.
Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said a witness reported seeing a man near the Old Trails Fire just before it erupted early Saturday. The witness claimed the man crouched near a grassy area, and looked nervous before he walked away.
The Old Trails Fire is the largest of three burning in Spokane where hundreds of structures have been damaged and over 60,000 people evacuated due to the fires, according to Fox 13.
“In collaboration with the Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Farinacci and a search warrant for his residence,” the sheriff’s office said Monday. “Today, Investigators, with the assistance of the Spokane County Warrant Service Group (a small contingent of SWAT Team members), served a search warrant at his residence in the 2800 block of W. Elliott Drive, and Farinacci was arrested without incident.”
The sheriff’s office noted Farinacci is a convicted felon whom they arrested for arson in the first degree:
The suspect is a resident of Spokane but was previously convicted of Manslaughter in Arizona, the Spokesman-Review reported Monday.
“According to the Phoenix News Times, the victim in Farinacci’s manslaughter case was his father. Farinacci killed him when his father asked him to do dishes, the paper reported,” the outlet said.
According to Nowels, evidence at the scene of where the suspect had been near the grass showed the fire may have been started with a match or lighter, and investigators later found Farinacci had waterproof matches and a butane lighter.
There was no indication Farinacci was linked to the other two fires, Nowels explained.
“The Old Trails Fire, one of several fires devastating Spokane County and the City of Spokane, was initially reported on August 1, 2026, at approximately 12:00 pm, near the intersection of N. Old Trails Road and W. Euclid Road, north of the City of Airway Heights,” the sheriff’s office said, adding officials were still working to determine the exact cause of the other fires.
