A man from Spokane, Washington, was arrested Monday and charged with setting one of the devastating wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes and other structures in and around the state’s second-largest city.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said Aaron F. Farinacci, 37, was arrested and booked on suspicion of first degree arson in connection with the Old Trails Fire, the largest of three blazes burning around Spokane.
Together, the fires have destroyed at least 700 buildings and forced some 67,000 people to evacuate. Authorities haven’t stated a possible cause for the other two fires.
A tip from a community member who saw a nervous-looking man bent by the side of the road near some grass initially led authorities to Farinacci, though they released him after initial questioning, Sheriff John Nowels said Monday night.
Later, when major crimes detectives started investigating using body worn cameras and reports, they again identified Farinacci and determined that the fire had started where the witness had seen him, Nowels said. Farinacci had matches and a butane lighter when he was detained, Nowels said.
A sprinkler sprays water onto a destroyed home in Spokane on Monday. (David Ryder/Reuters)
Farinacci’s first court appearance will be Tuesday, according to Spokane County Prosecutor Preston McCollam. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. He has been convicted of felony manslaughter in Arizona.
‘Nothing to save’
The Old Trails Fire sparked Saturday northwest of downtown Spokane, eventually jumping over the Spokane River and ripping through neighbourhoods.
Earlier Monday, some residents returned to find their homes levelled 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 fires jumped roads and rivers and had burned about 32 square kilometres by Monday. The sky filled with smoke and haze. Calmer winds and lower temperatures arrived to help firefighters, but it was expected to be hot and dry again by midweek.
In one Spokane neighbourhood, 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.
Neighbourhood mailboxes sit in front of two burned residential homes in the Balboa neighbourhood of Spokane on Monday. Some residents returned to find their homes levelled by wildfires. (Erick Doxey/AFP/Getty Images)
No deaths or major injuries reported
Cpl. Mark Gregory, a spokesperson for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, said the county initially received nearly 300 reports of missing people. By Monday, all but 14 had been cleared.
Those outstanding reports more likely represented people who had not been in contact since evacuating rather than people who were missing or in danger, authorities said.
The Spokane-area wildfires were completely uncontained, said Courtney James, a spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.
They were among dozens burning across the western U.S., straining the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them. At least 1,000 square kilometres had burned across Washington.
Authorities warned people not to fly drones near burned areas, saying they could delay aerial firefighting operations.
‘So much loss for so many people’
Angela and Wayde Deatherage, both 49, evacuated shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday with a son, grabbing a few bins of family photos and heirloom rings but not much else. Roughly 30 minutes later, their security camera began sending fire alerts to Angela’s phone.
Wayde Deatherage took some back roads and returned by early evening. He stopped at the end of the street and called his wife: “Our house is done.”
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Deatherage, however, wasn’t done with his neighbourhood. He propped a hose at another house so it sprayed the property. He called it simple prevention — and it worked. That home survived.
The couple returned to their property Sunday.
“It’s just ash,” Angela Deatherage said of the home where they had lived for nearly 22 years. “It’s like our house sunk down in the basement. … There’s just so much loss for so many people.”
A person sifts through the rubble of a destroyed home in Spokane on Monday. (David Ryder/Reuters)
Friends and relatives of people affected by the fires posted online appeals for money, clothes and basic necessities. Kory and MacKensie Aspaas were away with their children when the disaster hit.
“They are coming back from being out of town to a life that’s been completely wiped out,” friend Kali Butler said.
Officials said Sunday that the evacuees in Spokane included patients at its U.S. Veterans Affairs hospital. Investigators had yet to determine how the blazes started.
Grassland burns in Idaho, Oregon and Utah
Spokane was hardly the only place struggling to contain fires.
Crews using bulldozers and helicopters continued for a 10th day to fight a fire that has burned nearly 1,360 square kilometres of grassland in western Idaho and eastern Oregon. The area is home to cattle ranches, and authorities said the fire is threatening more than 600 homes and 800 other structures.
The weather in the area was expected to remain sunny and dry well into the week, with temperatures rising to more than 32 C on Wednesday. Officials say the fire was caused by lightning.
Smoke can be seen throughout the PNW at around 5000 ft. @OregonDEQ & the SW Clean Air Authority have issued Air Quality Advisories for counties in our forecast area. Be sure to visit their websites for more details on the smoke and what you can do to protect yourself. pic.twitter.com/DhITrPGhgt
—NWSPortland
In central Utah, a massive blaze more than doubled in size over the weekend, reaching nearly 147 square kilometres by Monday morning. More than 100 cattle have been killed, according to law enforcement.
Heavy winds helped flames jump containment lines.
The fire was moving north toward Fillmore, a town of about 2,600 people and the seat of Millard County. Mandatory evacuations were ordered Sunday evening for the town’s southern portion.
The National Weather Service issued warnings about the air quality across the northwest. It issued red flag fire warnings for parts of Utah and Montana and western Nebraska, and extreme heat warnings for the southern parts of Arizona, California and Nevada and northern Montana.
