According to The Guardian, Aaron Farinacci, 37, was booked on suspicion of first-degree arson in connection with the Old Trails fire near Spokane. Court records show he was questioned in two fire investigations in 2025, though he denies starting this blaze. The fire forced thousands to evacuate across eastern Washington.
This arrest comes during a brutal Washington fire season marked by heat, drought, and stretched firefighting resources. For residents around Spokane, the cost is immediate whether the fire was set deliberately or sparked by weather: homes lost, evacuations, and a system with almost no margin for error.
Prosecutors now face the challenge of tying one person to a fast-moving wildfire in court—a notoriously difficult case to build. Meanwhile, officials are still managing more than a dozen large blazes across Washington, though cooler weather and higher humidity are helping crews gain ground.
Politicians will want to tell a clean story about one bad actor. That's too easy. If the reporting holds, arson may have lit this fire, but the scale of damage reflects a region primed to burn and thinly staffed when it does. A suspect explains ignition. He doesn't explain why one fire can tear through a county already surrounded by smoke and strain.
Filed to the World desk · 6 days ago