Convicted felon arrested for allegedly starting Washington wildfire 

A suspect has been arrested after allegedly setting one of the three large wildfires raging across Spokane, Washington.

The wildfires, collectively known as the Spokane Complex fires, have been sweeping across Washington’s Spokane County, which is home to the state’s second-largest city. The fires have been ablaze since Saturday, burning at least 10,280 acres, and are 0% contained as of Tuesday, which means they are still considered to be out of control.

Aaron Farinacci, 37, was arrested Monday after Paul Child and his grandson noticed him suspiciously crouching in the grass as they drove past. After Child went home, he noticed a fire – which is now known as the Old Trails Fire – had started in the area where he had witnessed the man and alerted authorities.

“Thankfully, we had some very aware citizens,” Spokane County Sheriff John F. Nowels said at a press conference. “As it happens in so many critical cases, it was citizens who were paying attention to their surroundings, being aware and willing to step up and say something that led to the relatively quick apprehension of Mr. Farinacci.”

Farinacci was found and arrested without incident 1.5 miles from the Old Trails Fire, and the area where Child had originally seen him was confirmed as the fire’s origin.

More than 60,000 people have had to evacuate since the fires broke out, and more than 700 buildings have been completely destroyed.

“There are just so many Washingtonians who have literally lost everything in a very, very short period of time,” Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said at a press conference. “Just in a matter of hours their lives changed in deeply and dramatic fundamental ways. And so it’s difficult to find words when folks have experienced a loss like that.”

Initially, some believed the fires were caused by climate change.

“The whole state is under threat now,” Former Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said on social media. “Climate change. Climate change isn’t some existential global thing, it’s our neighbors, it’s our friends. We gotta fight for them.”

However, authorities found waterproof matches and a butane lighter in Farinacci’s possession, which match the materials they believe started the fire.

Nowels said Farinacci repeatedly told officers, “You don’t know the whole story,” when they found him.

The suspect is a convicted felon out of Mesa, Arizona, but is believed to have been a current Spokane resident. When Farinacci was 21, he shot and killed his father during an argument about washing dishes in 2010. He also shot himself but survived.

He was charged with murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter and aggravated assault in 2012 and was released from probation in early 2024, according to AP News.

Investigators discovered Farinacci had been contacted during two previous fire investigations but wasn’t charged in either case.

Now, he is charged with first-degree arson and is being held on a $1 million bond for questioning.

(Photo credit: Spokane County Sheriff’s Office; Screenshot/X/@JLRInvestigates; Screenshot/X/Scope Report)