As Spokane families fled walls of flame, deputies quietly moved on a man they say bent down by the roadside and lit one of the country’s worst wildfires.
Story Snapshot
- A 37-year-old Spokane man is jailed on first-degree arson in the Old Trails Fire.
- Witness tips and patrol officers’ early contact near the ignition point drove the arrest.
- The Old Trails Fire is one of several blazes that destroyed homes and forced mass evacuations around Spokane.
- The suspect has a prior felony manslaughter conviction from Arizona, raising hard questions about repeat offenders in fire-prone communities.
Arrest In The Middle Of A County Under Fire
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office says detectives and state fire investigators identified 37-year-old Aaron F. Farinacci as the suspect in the Old Trails Fire and developed probable cause to arrest him for first-degree arson. They worked with county prosecutors to get an arrest warrant and a search warrant for his home.
A small team of warrant service and Special Weapons and Tactics officers served the warrant at his address on West Elliott Drive and took him into custody without incident. Farinacci was booked into the Spokane County Jail and is being held on first-degree arson while crews still battle multiple blazes.
A man has been arrested on a charge of arson in the first degree in connection with the Old Trails Fire in eastern Washington, according to police. The fire is one of three major fires burning in Spokane County. Fire officials have said the causes of the fires are unknown, and th pic.twitter.com/gb4gh0G4p6
— 41NBC / WMGT-DT (@41NBC) August 4, 2026
The Old Trails Fire was first reported around midday on August 1 near North Old Trails Road and West Euclid Road, just north of Airway Heights, west of Spokane. That blaze is one of several fires that have ripped through Spokane County and the city, destroying hundreds of buildings and forcing tens of thousands of residents to evacuate.
As firefighters tried to hold the lines, detectives worked the origin area to match witness accounts with burn patterns and activity near the scene. The sheriff says that mix of citizen tips and patrol work led to a specific name.
How A Roadside Encounter Turned Into A Felony Case
Investigators say the case really began when a local resident noticed a man bending down along the side of the road near Euclid Road and Old Trails Road Saturday morning, only hours before flames took off in dry grass and brush. The witness later saw the same man while driving home and contacted the Airway Heights Police Department.
An officer found the man about a mile and a half from where the fire started, questioned him, took his information, and then let him go at the time. That kind of early contact is common when officers do not yet know a fire is criminal, but the record of the stop becomes key later if investigators decide the blaze was set on purpose.
Over the following days, detectives from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office gathered more evidence, tracked the witness statements, and worked to locate the man officers had contacted near the ignition point. By Monday evening they arrested Farinacci at his home and booked him on first-degree arson with bail reported at one million dollars in separate coverage.
Authorities have not yet detailed the full set of evidence they say connects him to the start of the Old Trails Fire, and the investigation remains active. That gap between the public headline and the technical case file is exactly why actual trials matter in serious arson charges.
A Prior Manslaughter Conviction And A Wider Pattern Of Fire Crime
Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels has said Farinacci has a prior felony manslaughter conviction out of Arizona. Local reporting has noted that he was originally charged with first-degree murder in the 2010 killing of his father before pleading guilty to manslaughter in 2012.
That record raises a blunt question: how many chances does a violent felon get around vulnerable communities before the system decides public safety must come first? When you mix that history with a fire that destroyed homes, the stakes feel even higher.
That question does not stop at one man. Spokane has seen a string of arson and reckless burning arrests in recent years, from downtown fires tied to repeat offenders to small brush fires along popular trails.
Sheriff’s office posts describe multiple cases where suspects were detained near scenes, released, then later arrested after more evidence surfaced, or arrested twice in a month for burning wire bundles.
Each case shows the same tension: officers must respect due process and real proof, yet residents expect strong protection when fire can jump a road and swallow a neighborhood in minutes.
Wildfire Fear, Public Cooperation, And What Comes Next
For Spokane families who spent days under evacuation orders, the arrest offers both relief and anger. Relief that investigators say they found the person who lit one of the worst fires. Anger that someone would choose to spark flames in bone-dry land while the region already sits on edge each summer.
The sheriff’s office itself stressed that citizen tips and information from Airway Heights Police officers and county deputies who helped evacuate homes were “extremely valuable” in reaching this arrest. Law enforcement works best when everyday citizens stay alert and engaged.
The Old Trails Fire case will now move into court, where prosecutors must turn probable cause into proof beyond a reasonable doubt and defense attorneys can challenge how investigators read the scene and the witness accounts. An arrest for first-degree arson is an allegation, not yet a conviction.
But with hundreds of structures lost across Spokane and tens of thousands forced from their homes, many residents will watch this trial as a test of whether the justice system truly treats wildfire arson as the grave threat it has become. They know that on a hot, windy weekend, one person with matches or a lighter can change an entire county’s future.
Sources:
apnews.com, spokanecounty.gov, khq.com, abc15.com, youtube.com, clickorlando.com, facebook.com, x.com, timesnownews.com
