Detectives in Spokane County, Wash., say the man accused of starting a fire this month that has destroyed almost 700 buildings has told them that he planned the arson two weeks in advance and was responsible for lighting two dozen other fires since last year, according to new court records.
The man, Aaron F. Farinacci, 37, was arrested on Monday after a resident told the authorities that he had seen someone acting suspiciously in tall grass where the Old Trails fire began. Mr. Farinacci was initially charged with one count of first-degree arson in connection with the Old Trails fire, one of three blazes that forced the evacuation of more than 65,000 people in the Spokane region.
On Wednesday, prosecutors said they would bring four additional arson charges against Mr. Farinacci because they believed he had started other fires. The initial charge is punishable by up to life in prison upon conviction.
“He feels fire is powerful, beautiful, and that things that go through fire experience a kind of rebirth,” Michael Drapeau, a detective for Spokane County, wrote in an affidavit.
According to an affidavit, Mr. Farinacci told detectives that he had researched John Leonard Orr, a convicted arsonist, and purchased items to make a device to ignite a wildfire. He told investigators that he decided to start the fire on Saturday because the strong winds, high temperatures and dry air were “ideal,” according to the affidavit. Spokane County was under a red flag warning that day.
On Thursday, Mr. Farinacci appeared in court with his lawyer, a public defender who requested a competency evaluation for his client. Preston McCollam, Spokane County’s prosecuting attorney, agreed and also asked that the defendant’s bond be increased from $1 million to $2 million in light of the additional charges. The judge granted the request. Mr. Farinacci has not entered a plea yet, and his lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.
In 2012, Mr. Farinacci was convicted of manslaughter and aggravated assault after he had initially been charged with first-degree murder in his father’s death, according to court records from Maricopa County, Ariz.
Records show that Mr. Farinacci fatally shot his father in their home after an argument. He shot himself in the chest in an attempt to kill himself, records state. Court records showed a history of mental illness and treatment, but Mr. Farinacci was declared fit to stand trial. The murder charge was dropped under a plea deal, and Mr. Farinacci was released on probation in 2020.
At some point after that, he moved to Washington, where he lived with his brother and later his girlfriend. According to the affidavit, he had a son in May 2025 and then began smoking marijuana and “having trouble dealing with life issues.”
Mr. Farinacci told detectives he started his first fire on July 4, 2025, using a lighter, the affidavit states, and then went on to set more than two dozen small fires over that summer. In at least two cases, he ran into the police after starting a fire. A Spokane police officer who stopped Mr. Farinacci in August 2025 after one incident asked whether he was carrying matches, according to the court documents. Mr. Farinacci told the police officer he did, for smoking marijuana.
According to the court documents, Mr. Farinacci told detectives he had prepared in case he faced arrest after setting what would become the Old Trails fire: “He had a plan, if confronted, to pull a knife from his backpack and try to get the police to shoot him.”
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