The man accused of setting one of the most destructive wildfires in Washington state history is set to appear in court again Thursday.
Aaron F. Farinacci, 37, is facing a first-degree arson charge in connection with the Old Trails Fire that sparked on Saturday, Aug. 1, in Spokane County.
The fire, along with two other fires that started over the weekend, is part of the Spokane Complex Fire. As of Thursday morning, the fires have torched over 800 structures and forced thousands of residents to leave their homes.
Old Trails Fire is seen from Dwight Merkel Sports Complex, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in Spokane, Wash.
Young Kwak / AP
Farinacci was arrested after being identified by a man driving with his grandson just before noon Saturday. According to a police report, the man told officers that he saw a person, who was later identified as Farinacci, standing near a set of train tracks and looking into a tree line.
The man said that when he drove by again, the person was still in the area and “acting nervous” as his vehicle approached. After returning home, the man’s daughter noticed smoke from the same area where Farinacci had been spotted.
Police detained Farinacci on Saturday about a mile away from where the fire started.
Farinacci told police he was coming from the Euclid area after walking a 4-mile loop, a trail he said he walks nearly every day. He was wearing a backpack, a fanny pack, shorts and a green shirt that read, “Who needs luck I have charm,” in white letters.
Inside Farinacci’s fanny pack was a pack of cigarettes, a butane lighter and GoFire-branded rain-ready, heavy-duty waterproof matches. The box contained 14 of the 25 matches advertised on the packaging, according to police.
Authorities said Farinacci told a deputy with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office that he uses the matches to light his cigarettes when he doesn’t have a lighter. However, he was released at the scene due to police not having the “total facts of the incident including the point of origin or source of the fire,” a police report says.
Farinacci was arrested at his apartment in Spokane two days after the Old Trails Fire started. His bail was set at $1 million during his first court appearance.
Police have questioned Farinacci about fires in the past. Investigators spoke with Farinacci twice in 2025 in connection with other fires: once for an unidentified fire in July, and again for a fire in Riverside State Park in August. Photos from the Riverside State Park fire showed a man in the same green, short-sleeved shirt as Farinacci near the flames.
In 2010, Farinacci, 21 at the time, shot and killed his father in Mesa, Arizona, following an argument over washing the dishes, according to police. He also turned the gun on himself, but survived his injuries.
Court records show he was initially charged with homicide, ultimately pleading guilty to manslaughter and aggravated assault. He was released from prison in 2020.
This story will be updated.
