Spokane Sheriff Reveals What Led Detectives Back To Wildfire Suspect After Initial Release

A citizen saw something that did not look right near the origin of the most destructive wildfire in the Spokane area.

Deputies found the man, questioned him—and let him go.

What happened next is a remarkable look at how one witness, body-camera footage and a second review allegedly brought investigators back to the same suspect.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office arrested 37-year-old Aaron F. Farinacci on Monday and booked him on suspicion of first-degree arson in connection with the Old Trails Fire.

The fire started Saturday northwest of Spokane, jumped the Spokane River and ripped through residential neighborhoods. Footage from the area shows homes reduced to ash and smoke hanging over block after block of destruction:

🚨#BREAKING: A man who m*rdered his own FATHER because he was asked to WASH DISHES… is now accused of setting a fire that burned roughly 700 homes to the ground and forced 65,000 people to flee.

Yes, he k*lled his dad over DISHES and he wasn't in prison.

His name is Aaron… pic.twitter.com/ba4XEqUdrM

— Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) August 4, 2026

The Associated Press reports that the break in the case began with a community member who saw a nervous-looking man bent down near grass along the road.

Deputies responded and detained Farinacci near the scene. They questioned him, but at that point they did not believe they had enough evidence to arrest him, so he was released.

Major-crimes detectives later began reviewing reports and body-worn camera footage from the initial encounter. Sheriff John Nowels said that process identified Farinacci again and allowed investigators to compare the witness’s location with the area where the fire began.

The locations matched, according to the sheriff. Investigators also learned that Farinacci allegedly had matches and a butane lighter when deputies detained him.

That combination—the citizen’s observation, the recorded police encounter, the fire-origin work and the items reportedly found on Farinacci—turned an initial release into a first-degree arson arrest.

Nowels credited the arrest to a citizen who paid attention, recognized that something was wrong and stepped forward with information investigators could test against the evidence.

🚨JUST IN: An Arson Suspect was just ARRESTED For Starting Wildfires That Washington Gov. Inslee Blamed on “Climate Change”

The suspect,Aaron Farinacci, is a convicted murderer who killed his own father.

Democrats should focus on keeping violent criminals off the streets… pic.twitter.com/bSsQHk8D2s

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) August 4, 2026

There is a second point investigators and the public now have to keep straight.

The Old Trails Fire was the largest of three fires burning around Spokane. The widely reported total of at least 700 destroyed buildings and roughly 67,000 evacuations covers all three fires combined.

Farinacci is accused in connection with the Old Trails Fire. Authorities had not announced a cause for the other two fires, and the combined losses should not be attributed solely to the fire tied to his arrest.

Even with that distinction, the Old Trails Fire produced extraordinary destruction. It jumped a river, tore through neighborhoods and left some longtime residents staring at little more than foundations, chimneys and blackened vehicles.

More than 1,000 firefighters had arrived by Monday, with additional crews expected. At that point, officials said the Spokane-area fires remained uncontained.

Then there is Farinacci’s history.

Current reporting identifies him as a convicted felon who served time for manslaughter in Arizona. Contemporaneous reporting from the Phoenix New Times says he was 21 when an argument broke out after a family dinner over who would do the dishes.

Mesa police said Farinacci went into his parents’ bedroom, locked the door and took his father’s handgun from a nightstand. When his father unlocked the door, Farinacci allegedly shot him twice.

Jeffrey Farinacci later died at the hospital.

Police said Farinacci pointed the gun at his mother when she entered the room. She fled and called for help. Officers found him about an hour later several blocks away with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.

Social-media posts have described Farinacci as a convicted murderer. The underlying killing is real, but the legally accurate prior conviction reported in the current case is felony manslaughter.

🚨 UPDATE: A man has been ARRESTED for ARSON after the Democrat governor of Washington blamed the Spokane fires on climate change

Aaron Farinacci is not only suspected of starting the fires but previously m*rdered his FATHER.

Imagine that.

WHY WAS HE ON THE STREET?!?! pic.twitter.com/0Ybtz09Xr7

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 4, 2026

Some viral posts also describe Jay Inslee as Washington’s governor. Bob Ferguson is the state’s current governor; Inslee left office in 2025.

ADVERTISEMENT

The climate reference comes from Inslee’s earlier rhetoric. After destructive Spokane County fires in 2023, an official Washington Governor’s Office bulletin quoted him arguing that climate change was creating conditions no fleet of fire trucks could overcome.

Hot, dry and windy conditions can determine how fast a fire spreads. They do not answer the separate question of who—or what—ignited it.

In this case, the sheriff says the immediate answer began with an ordinary person who paid attention, remembered what he saw and spoke up.

Farinacci is presumed innocent unless and until prosecutors prove the new charge in court. But if the allegations hold, a citizen’s decision not to look the other way may have stopped the person responsible from disappearing into the chaos.