As Spokane choked on smoke and watched neighborhoods burn, deputies quietly moved in on a 37-year-old felon they say lit one of the county’s worst wildfires.
Story Snapshot
- Detectives arrested Spokane resident Aaron F. Farinacci on suspicion of first-degree arson in the Old Trails Fire.
- The Old Trails Fire is one of several blazes that destroyed hundreds of structures and forced mass evacuations across Spokane County.
- Citizen tips and local officers’ quick work near the fire scene helped investigators build probable cause for the arrest.
- Farinacci, a convicted felon with a prior manslaughter conviction in Arizona, is being held on $1 million bail.
Arson arrest in the middle of a wildfire disaster
The Old Trails Fire did not start in a remote forest with no one around. It was first reported around midday on August 1 near North Old Trails Road and West Euclid Road, just north of Airway Heights, as flames raced through dry grass and brush already primed by summer heat.
By the time crews pulled hoses and dug fire lines, Spokane County was in a full-blown disaster, with multiple fires torching homes and pushing families out of their neighborhoods.
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
While firefighters tried to hold the line, Major Crimes detectives and fire investigators worked in the background. The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office says they identified a suspect, Aaron F. Farinacci of Spokane, and developed probable cause that he intentionally set the Old Trails Fire.
Working with county prosecutors, they secured an arrest warrant and a search warrant for his home. On Monday evening, deputies and a small Special Weapons and Tactics team contingent served that warrant at his West Elliott Drive residence and arrested him without incident.
How a roadside sighting became a felony arson case
The case started with one neighbor doing what we ask good citizens to do. On Saturday morning, a resident near Euclid Road and Old Trails Road reported seeing a man bending down along the roadside.
That same person later spotted the man again while driving home and decided not to ignore it, contacting the Airway Heights Police Department. An officer found the man about a mile and a half from where the fire later started, questioned him, recorded his information, and then released him.
From there, detectives spent several days piecing together what happened. They gathered witness accounts, checked timelines, and coordinated with state fire investigators to rule out other causes.
The sheriff’s office credits citizen tips, along with quick work by Airway Heights officers and sheriff’s deputies handling evacuations, with giving fire investigators enough information to move from suspicion to a formal arson case. This is exactly how many arson investigations build: not with a smoking gun, but with people paying attention and reporting what they see.
A convicted felon, a deadly past, and fresh fear
Farinacci is not an unknown name to law enforcement. Sheriff John Nowels confirmed that he has a prior felony manslaughter conviction out of Arizona, tied to the killing of his father in 2010.
That earlier case began as a first-degree murder charge before a grand jury indictment led to manslaughter, and he eventually pleaded guilty. Now, local outlets report that he also has previous contacts with police for fire-related behavior, even if those did not lead to past fire convictions.
In Spokane, prosecutors are not treating the Old Trails Fire lightly. Farinacci is being held on one million dollars bail and is expected to make an initial court appearance on the arson charge. First-degree arson in Washington is reserved for the most serious fire crimes, where prosecutors say someone intentionally sets a fire that endangers life or damages a dwelling.
For many residents who watched their own roofs collapse in flames, the idea that a convicted felon may have sparked at least one of these fires deepens both anger and a simple question: why was he free to walk near a tinder-dry roadside in the first place?
Wildfire chaos, public safety, and what happens next
The Old Trails Fire is only one piece of a larger crisis. Officials say wildfires around Spokane have destroyed hundreds of structures and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate homes across the county.
Families grabbed pets and photo albums and sat in traffic jams under an orange sky, while fire crews tried to protect what they could. The sheriff has said dozens of people are unaccounted for, and the toll in homes and lives disrupted is still being counted.
Detectives stress that the investigation into the Old Trails Fire is ongoing, as are separate origin-and-cause probes on other major fires like the Autumn Lane and Fairview blazes. An arrest for first-degree arson is a serious step, but it is still the start of the court process, not the end.
Two points stand out: communities need fast, firm action when someone is suspected of lighting deadly fires, and they also need investigators to keep building solid evidence that will hold up in court and protect the public for the long term.
Sources:
spokanecounty.gov, abc15.com, youtube.com
