Non-White Arrested in Connection to Spokane, Washington Wildfires.
Aaron F. Farinacci, 37, a convicted felon who killed his own father, is being held on $1 million bond.
On Monday, authorities arrested Aaron F. Farinacci, 37, on suspicion of arson in connection with the Old Trails Fire. He is being held on $1 million bond.
The fire, which is tearing through eastern Washington state, is one of several burning around Spokane, the state’s second-largest city. They are among the most destructive blazes in state history, together destroying at least 700 structures and forcing roughly 67,000 people to evacuate, leaving many wondering if they even have a home to go back to.
Earlier Monday, some residents returned to find their homes leveled by wildfires that erupted across a parched landscape over the weekend, covering yards in charred debris. In some cases, only chimneys were left standing.
“There’s nothing to save,” Miriam Sim, 76, said Monday as she and her husband, Daniel Sim, surveyed the ruins of the home where they had lived since 2005.
“At our age, do we want to rebuild?” her husband asked.
The fire was able to move across roads and stretched over rivers, allowing it to burn about 12.5 square miles by Monday.
In one Spokane neighborhood, blackened vehicles, a boat twisted by the heat and melted plastic recycling bins remained. Across the street, lawns were still green and houses were spared, as residents continued to run hoses or sprinklers to water their properties.
Begging for an expedited emergency declaration, the Washington Congressional Delegation wrote:
“Hundreds of people have completely lost their homes and farms, and many are prohibited from returning to their homes or neighborhoods as crews continue to extinguish smoldering embers.”
Cpl. Mark Gregory, a spokesperson for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, said the county initially received nearly 300 reports of missing people, but by Monday they had cleared all but 14.
Across the Western US, wildfires are stretching the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them. At least 390 square miles has burned across Washington, which has contended with severe drought and a paltry snowpack.
Authorities warned people not to fly drones near the burned areas, saying it could force them to delay aerial firefighting operations. However, it would also limit people from viewing the total damage of the fire and what the fire didn’t burn.
Friends and relatives of fire victims posted online appeals for money, clothes and basic necessities, as it can be surmised that FEMA will likely pull another North Carolina scandal and refuse to payout victims of this tragedy.
Meanwhile in Spokane, about 400 people were staying at city’s main convention center, which was turned into a shelter because of the local community coming together without the federal government.
Spokane Public Schools opened a free emergency drop-in camp for children on Monday. Trials at the county court were pushed to Aug. 10.
Several larger fires continued to burn in less populated areas northwest of Spokane.
So, what do we know about the arson? Well we know that he was a convicted felon who killed his own father. Farinacci, 37, served about a decade in prison after killing his father in Arizona in 2010.
According to the Associated Press, Farinacci, then 21, fatally shot his father during a fight about washing dishes in Mesa, Arizona, before trying to kill himself in 2010. He was charged with murder but took a manslaughter plea.
Farinacci was released from probation in Arizona in early 2024. A probation officer said Farinacci maintained a stable residence with his girlfriend and her family in the previous year, but also noted he hadn’t completed a mental health evaluation or domestic violence treatment.
Last year, authorities questioned Farinacci in two fire-related cases in Spokane, according to a probable cause statement filed in Spokane County Superior Court.
On Saturday, Paul Child, 64, was driving with his grandson along some railroad tracks in his rural neighborhood northwest of Spokane. He saw a man standing and looking toward nearby trees. About 10 minutes later, as they were returning home, the man was still there.
Child stated:
“He was bent over in the brush, acting nervous. You get the feeling this guy’s up to something. No longer than 10 minutes after I got home, my daughter says, ‘There’s a fire’. My first words were, ‘That SOB started a fire!’ It was the exact spot where he was standing.”
Farinacci was taken into custody on Monday, August 3 at his residence, about four miles from where the blaze started.
He is being held on $1 million bond.
