Spokane arson suspect had planned devastating wildfire for weeks, police say

Police said a man charged with starting a wildfire in Spokane, Washington, confessed to the crime, describing how he planned it for weeks and created a device to ignite a blaze that destroyed hundreds of buildings. 

Aaron Farinacci researched the weather to predict a day that would have “high winds, low humidity, sort of high heat” for the Old Trails Fire, Spokane County Detective Michael Drapeau said in a court filing Wednesday.

Farinacci also looked up the work of a well-known serial arsonist and purchased items to make a “time delay device” for igniting a wildfire, using notebook paper, matches, a cigarette and a rubber band, the detective said.

Drapeau said Farinacci told him that “fire is powerful, beautiful, and that things that go through fire experience a kind of rebirth.”

Farinacci picked Aug. 1 to start the fire because he knew there would be strong winds — reaching 50 mph, the detective said.  

In the court filing, Drapeau said that Farinacci told investigators he had several possible locations in mind when he left his home on the morning of Aug. 1 to start the fire, but had not determined exactly where it would be. 

He eventually chose a spot and “decided to light the fire at this location because he knew ‘it was gonna get bad,'” Drapeau wrote. “By ‘bad’ he meant it would be a large fire, but claimed he did not intend for it to get as large as it did.” 

Farinacci is charged with starting the Old Trails Fire, one of three fires in the Spokane area that have burned hundreds of homes and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people. Fire officials told CBS News on Thursday that at least 913 structures have been damaged or destroyed in the fires. Of those, 694 were damaged or destroyed in the Old Trails Fire. 

Farinacci made his first court appearance on Thursday on multiple counts of arson. No plea was entered and his bail was increased to $2 million. 

His attorney, Colin Charbonneau, did not immediately return The Associated Press’ messages seeking comment. Farinacci has a prior manslaughter conviction, CBS News previously reported.  

Paul Child, 64, has been credited with leading police to Farinacci. He was driving with his grandson along some railroad tracks when he saw a man standing there and looking toward nearby trees. About 10 minutes later, the man was still there.

“He was bent over in the brush, acting nervous,” Child told The AP on Tuesday. “You get the feeling this guy’s up to something.”

“No longer than 10 minutes after I got home, my daughter says, ‘There’s a fire,'” Child recalled. “My first words were, ‘That SOB started a fire!’ It was the exact spot where he was standing.”

The fires all broke out Aug. 1 amid conditions of extreme drought, high heat and powerful winds. 

“It’s a nightmare situation,” Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said earlier this week. “This is likely the worst natural disaster in Spokane history.”