A 37-year-old man accused of setting the fire that destroyed a swath of northwest Spokane, including hundreds of homes, was arrested Monday 4 miles from the site where it began.
Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels announced Monday night that the man, Aaron F. Farinacci, was reported by witnesses to be “acting suspicious” and kneeling in the grass near the ignition site of the Old Trails fire on Saturday.
Law enforcement contacted Farinacci more than a mile down the road from where the blaze initially ignited, Nowels said, but was released at the time so first responders could prioritize the fire.
Farinacci was taken into custody on suspicion of first-degree arson around 5 p.m. Monday, Nowels said at the news conference Monday night.
Evidence at the scene of the ignition point was consistent with being started by a match or lighter, Nowels said. Investigators later discovered Farinacci was in possession of waterproof matches and a butane lighter, he added.
“It is a continuing and ongoing investigation,” Nowels said.
Aaron Farinacci, 37, was arrested Monday on suspicion of setting the Old Trails fire. (Arizona State Prison)
Farinacci lives in the Spokane area, though he was convicted of manslaughter in Mesa, Arizona. But “as far as we can determine now, he is a Spokane resident,” Nowels said, though he didn’t know for how long.
According to the Phoenix News Times, the victim in Farinacci’s manslaughter case was his father. Farinacci killed him when his father asked him to do dishes, the paper reported.
The sheriff said Farinacci doesn’t have any prior arson convictions, but he has been contacted before for “arson-related behavior.”
“It was through the work of vigilant citizens who were noticing things awry in their community, who were noticing things that were different and who took the time to engage with law enforcement to make sure the necessary information was shared,” Spokane County Prosecutor Preston McCollam said.
A man and woman at a Newman Lake address associated with a relative of Farinacci declined to comment after the news broke of his arrest Monday night.
The Old Trails fire that destroyed around 700 homes Saturday is presumed to be human-caused, according to Washington state Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Ryan Rodruck. The Department of Natural Resources is the lead investigator on the fire.
Aaron Farinacci is shown being taken into custody on August 3, 2026, after allegedly setting the Old Trails fire. (Spokane County Sheriff’s Office )
“We are working with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and our fire district partners to investigate. We have ruled out any natural cause,” Rodruck said via email Monday. “The investigative process is very deliberative.”
The fire is one of three in Spokane County, together totaling over 10,000 acres. The causes of the other two fires, Autumn Lane and Fairview, remain under investigation.
The Old Trails fire was reported around noon Saturday near West Euclid Road and North Old Trails Road, northeast of Airway Heights.
A Spokesman-Review reporter on West Trails Road and the Centennial Trail observed a man in a green shirt and backpack walking eastbound between 1 and 2 p.m. Saturday.
A man in a car drove down West Trails Road and stopped next to a Spokane police officer who was parked at the Centennial Trail entrance to block traffic. He told the officer, “We saw that guy an hour ago.”
A fire official in a truck stopped to intercept the conversation and asked the officer if he was going to stop the man in the backpack. The police officer indicated he could not leave his post at the time.
The official drove down the road, flashed the light on top of the truck and made contact with the man before heading back to the fire. Law enforcement sources confirmed to The Spokesman-Review Monday evening Farinacci matches the paper’s description of a suspect wearing a green shirt with a backpack.
Near the reported ignition site are BNSF Railway tracks. The only land burned in that area is north of the tracks, The Spokesman-Review observed Monday. Also nearby was pink tape strewn around multiple trees.
Saturday at 12:37 p.m., the fire was believed to be around 200 acres and growing fast, The Spokesman-Review observed from the 8800 block of Euclid. Nearby residents were seen running frantically down Old Trails Road, away from the cloud of smoke erupting behind them.
Euclid was unscathed at the time. Surrounding homes were fine. By 12:45 p.m., however, the fire had jumped Old Trails Road. It was only a matter of seconds before flames approached Euclid, nearly trapping anything on the road in its path.
Those on Indian Bluff were observed packing their cars and grabbing their pets by 12:55 p.m. Their homes were burned to the ground as of Monday morning.
