Spokane County man arrested in suspected arson tied to Old Trails Fire

A Spokane County man was booked Monday on suspicion of first-degree arson after a witness spotted him near the place where the Old Trails Fire began and called 911 when smoke appeared. Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels announced the arrest of Aaron F. Farinacci, 37, of Spokane, in a case tied to the largest of three major wildfires burning around the Spokane area.

Investigators said a witness saw Farinacci kneeling near grass at the ignition site near Old Trails Road and Euclid Road in Airway Heights, west of Spokane, just before the fire started Aug. 1. The arrest turned on that split-second account, but the case remained an official arson investigation, not a conclusion about how the blaze started. Some accounts said Farinacci was later found with matches and a lighter.

The Old Trails Fire became part of a wider wildfire emergency that sent thousands of residents out of their homes and into evacuation centers or temporary housing. By Aug. 3 and 4, the fires had forced roughly 60,000 to 67,000 people to evacuate and destroyed at least 700 buildings, with some reports putting the number of damaged or destroyed structures at more than 1,100. Reports also said more than 4,000 hectares burned across the region.

Farinacci was being held on $1 million bond. The case placed unusual weight on a resident’s fast 911 call at the edge of a fast-moving disaster, where witness observation can help direct deputies in the first chaotic minutes, but where physical evidence and the fire investigation still determine what can be proven in court.