Suspect allegedly set 25 other fires; competency evaluation ordered

Aaron Farinacci, 37, appeared in a Spokane County court for the second time Thursday, when a judge raised his bond to $2 million and ordered a mental competency evaluation. No plea was entered, and Farinacci was remanded back into police custody. In court, the suspect appeared emotional, keeping his head down and rubbing his eyes as the judge set his bond.

According to an affidavit released Wednesday, Farinacci admitted in a police interview to having planned the fire, known as the Old Trails Fire, two weeks in advance. “He researched his weather app to predict a day that would have ‘high winds, low humidity, sort of high heat,’” the affidavit said.

Detectives also believe the suspect researched a well-known arsonist in order to create a “time-delay device” for igniting the fire.

The affidavit said Farinacci had been struggling since the birth of his son in May 2025 and became fascinated with fires and arsonists. He allegedly started setting fires in July 2025, setting 25 by the following month.

“He feels that fire is powerful, beautiful, and that things that go through fire experience a kind of rebirth,” the affidavit stated, adding that Farinacci said he knew the blaze “was gonna get bad” but did not intend for it to get as large as it did.

Farinacci was allegedly seen kneeling near grass at the site of the latest blaze and was later found to have matches and a lighter, the Spokane County Sheriff said when Farinacci was arrested Monday.

The Old Trails Fire is the largest of three burning around Spokane, Washington State’s second-most-populous city. The blazes swept through the outskirts of the city over the weekend, forcing more than 60,000 people — nearly a quarter of the city’s population — to evacuate and destroying more than 700 buildings.

No deaths or injuries have been confirmed. Authorities said they are trying to make contact with 14 people they have been unable to reach by mobile phone but who are not yet considered missing.

Many residents said they were shocked, particularly after it emerged that Farinacci had previously been linked to two other fire investigations last year. Some told the BBC they do not have the emotional energy to be angry at the suspect and are more focused on healing from their own psychological trauma. Others said they found “closure” in knowing the fire was intentional and not something that, after a lengthy investigation, could ultimately be attributed to a freak accident or a natural ignition.

“I hope that if it’s proven that he did do this, I hope the punishment will fit the crime,” said Matt Kincanon, who lost his home in the Old Trails Fire. “Because what he allegedly did turned over the lives of so many people.”