Convicted Killer Eyed In Mega Wildfire

Sheriff's line tape blocking a street with police cars behind — Photo: Lee Reese / Shutterstock

As Spokane families sift through ashes from the Old Trails Fire, a convicted killer now stands accused of lighting the blaze that drove more than 60,000 people from their homes.

Story Snapshot

Aaron F. Farinacci, 37, is jailed on first-degree arson charges for the Old Trails Fire near Spokane.
Officials say a citizen saw him bending down in dry grass where the fire later started, and he was later found with matches and a lighter.
The Old Trails Fire is the largest of three Spokane-area wildfires that destroyed hundreds of homes and forced mass evacuations.
Farinacci is a convicted felon with a past manslaughter conviction for killing his father in Arizona, raising public anger and fear.

Arrest In One Of Spokane’s Most Destructive Wildfires

Spokane County officials say the Old Trails Fire, reported around midday on August 1 near North Old Trails Road and West Euclid Road, quickly turned into the most destructive wildfire in the area’s modern history. The fire burned thousands of acres and destroyed hundreds of homes as flames pushed toward Spokane and nearby communities, forcing more than 60,000 people to evacuate. Local residents across the political spectrum watched homes, small businesses, and lifelong savings go up in smoke while government warnings and orders struggled to keep up.

Major crimes detectives with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, working with Washington’s Department of Natural Resources fire investigators, say they identified a suspect within days. A citizen called to report a man bending or kneeling down in the grass near where the fire later started, giving officers a name and description. Deputies first contacted Aaron F. Farinacci shortly after the blaze began and questioned him, then released him when they said they lacked evidence to hold him. As tips came in and investigators reviewed the burn area, they say probable cause for arson grew.

What Investigators Say Ties Farinacci To The Fire

Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels told reporters that investigators used witness reports and fire scene work to link the fire’s origin point to the spot where the witness saw Farinacci kneeling in grass earlier that day. During evacuation efforts, officers searched for him and later found him several miles from the fire’s start area. When they detained him again, officials say he had waterproof matches and a butane lighter, tools they believe were used to ignite the blaze. Fire officials told the public they think the Old Trails Fire began from matches or a lighter, not from downed power lines or a freak accident.

Working with the county prosecutor’s office, detectives obtained a judge-signed arrest warrant for first-degree arson and a search warrant for Farinacci’s home on West Elliott Drive. Around 5 p.m. on Monday, August 3, officers from the county’s warrant service group and a small special weapons team arrested him at that home without incident. He was booked into the Spokane County Jail on one count of first-degree arson and is being held on one million dollars bail. Prosecutors say he “knowingly and maliciously” caused the Old Trails Fire, a charge that could bring a long prison term if a jury convicts him.

Farinacci’s Violent Past And Public Backlash

Court records show Farinacci is not new to serious crime or the prison system. He was once charged with first-degree murder for killing his father in Maricopa County, Arizona, in 2010, but that charge was later reduced; by 2012 he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and served time in an Arizona state prison. Local and national outlets now highlight his criminal history, and social media posts describe him simply as “the man who killed his own father” now accused of starting Spokane’s worst fire.

This mix of a deadly wildfire, a repeat felon, and a system that released him once before arresting him again feeds a growing sense that ordinary people cannot trust government to protect them. Many conservatives see this case as another example of soft-on-crime policies and failures to lock up dangerous offenders, especially when thousands of lives and homes are at risk. Many liberals look at the same facts and see deeper problems, like mental health gaps, overstretched public safety budgets, and a justice system that seems reactive instead of preventive.

Wildfire Arson, Public Anger, And Systemic Strain

Across Spokane County, people who once argued over energy policy or immigration now share one basic feeling: the system is not working for them when disaster hits. Families who worked for decades to own a home watched it burn in hours, then learned that one person with matches may have set the chain of events in motion. Many ask why a convicted killer was living free in a fire-prone region as summer heat and dry grass made conditions ripe for catastrophe, while officials seemed more focused on press conferences than prevention.

Fire experts often warn that human-caused fires, whether careless or deliberate, are rising as more people live near dry brush and forest. Yet year after year, Congress and state lawmakers fight over budgets while local departments scramble for enough staff, gear, and training. Residents see that billions flow to favored projects and special interests, while front-line protection comes down to one citizen spotting a man in the grass and calling it in. That gap between elite priorities and basic safety feeds talk of a “deep state” that protects itself first and leaves regular Americans to fend for themselves when the flames arrive.

Ongoing Investigation And What Comes Next

Officials stress that the Old Trails Fire investigation is still active and that more charges are possible as they sort through damage and evidence. They have not publicly released full technical reports on burn patterns, ignition traces, or other physical proof, and the fire’s cause will still have to hold up under challenge in court. Farinacci has made his first court appearance but has not yet entered a formal plea, and he is legally presumed innocent unless prosecutors prove their case to a jury.

For Spokane and for the country, this case sits at the crossroads of several long-running worries: repeat violent offenders, rising disasters, strained local services, and a distant political class that rarely pays the real price when systems fail. Whether the courts find Farinacci guilty or not, thousands of people now face years of rebuilding with limited help, while officials argue over statements and press angles. Many Americans on both the right and the left look at Spokane and see a sign that the gap between everyday people and the powerful is burning wider, even after the smoke clears.