Spokane man arrested in region’s largest wildfire

A Spokane man with a prior manslaughter conviction was arrested Monday in connection with the largest of three wildfires burning across the Spokane region, where tens of thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate and hundreds of structures have been destroyed, authorities said.

Aaron F. Farinacci, 37, was taken into custody without incident with the help of a SWAT team after a judge signed a warrant based on an allegation of first-degree arson, Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said at a Monday evening news conference. The Guardian reported that authorities charged Farinacci with first-degree arson in the Old Trails Fire. NBC News reported it was unclear Monday night whether he had been formally charged or had a lawyer.

Farinacci was being held on $1 million bond and was expected to make his first court appearance Tuesday, officials said.

The Old Trails Fire began around 10 a.m. Saturday northwest of downtown Spokane and had burned 3,619 acres by Monday, making it the largest of the three major fires in the area. The fires together have burned more than 8,000 acres, destroyed an estimated 700 structures and prompted evacuation notices for 67,000 people, federal incident commander Tom Clemo said Monday. They were zero percent contained Monday night.

Nowels said investigators focused on Farinacci after a witness reported seeing a man near the fire’s starting point shortly before it ignited. The witness said the man was looking into trees, then was seen crouching along the side of a road near grass before he “stood up and looked very nervous” and walked away, Nowels said.

Deputies detained Farinacci later Saturday about a half-mile from where the fire started and questioned him, but he was released. Nowels said he had waterproof matches and a butane lighter, items the sheriff said could have been used to start the fire.

On Sunday, major crimes detectives linked Farinacci to the blaze and “determined that the origin of the fire was indeed exactly where the witnesses had seen Mr. Farinacci kneeling in the grass,” Nowels said.

“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,” Nowels said. “This was fantastic, very quick work by everybody involved.”

Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney Preston McCollam said Farinacci was known to walk in the area and had been questioned in the past about “arson-related behavior,” though he had not been arrested or convicted in those matters. McCollam said Farinacci has a criminal record in Arizona, including a manslaughter conviction. Public records cited by NBC News show he was convicted in 2012 for a 2010 killing in Maricopa County. The Guardian, citing the Phoenix New Times, reported the victim was Farinacci’s father, who was shot and killed at their Mesa home in 2010.

Nowels said there was no evidence connecting Farinacci to the other two major fires in the region, identified by The Guardian as the Autumn Lane and Fairview fires.

Some residents were able to return Monday to neighborhoods damaged by the Old Trails Fire after it jumped the Spokane River. “There’s nothing to save,” said Miriam Sim, 76, as she and her husband, Daniel Sim, looked over the ruined home where they had lived since 2005.

No deaths or major injuries have been reported. Cpl. Mark Gregory, a Spokane sheriff’s office spokesperson, said Monday that 14 people remained unaccounted for, though they were probably evacuees who had not been in contact and were not believed to be truly missing or in danger.

More than 1,000 firefighters, many from out of state, had arrived by Monday, and officials said that number was expected to double. Crews were fighting the fires from the ground and air, while Nowels warned the public not to interfere with aerial operations by flying drones.