Local 10 News34%
Man charged with arson in Spokane, Washington, told police he planned wildfire for weeks 8%
By MARTHA BELLISLE10% Associated Press74%
8/6/2026, 2:15:30 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 12 faulty reasoning types, including Negativity Bias, Unattributed Quote, and Confirmation Bias, with Fundamental Attribution Error as the most egregious example at 6% saturation with 48 hits. Analysis detected 342 faulty-reasoning hits from 806 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 16.7% and a BS Rank of 8% (28,366 of 30,584 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 92.70% of the article peer group.
A man charged with starting one of the wildfires in Spokane, Washington, that have destroyed hundreds of buildings planned the crime for weeks and researched when the weather would be best for igniting it, police said.
In an interview after his arrest, Aaron Farinacci said “fire is powerful, beautiful, and that things that go through fire experience a kind of rebirth," Spokane County Detective Michael Drapeau wrote in a court filing Wednesday.
Farinacci, 37, is charged with starting the Old Trails fire, one of three fires in the Spokane area that have burned more than 850 buildings, destroying whole neighborhoods and streets, and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.
He is also charged in connection with four smaller fires ignited in the summer of 2025 and last month.
He was scheduled to be arraigned on five first-degree arson charges Thursday, but his lawyer asked for a competency evaluation before he enters a plea.
Spokane Superior Court Judge Jeremy Schmidt said he would review that request.
He set bond for $2 million, ruling that Farinacci was a risk to community safety, a flight risk and that there was potential for a violent offense.
Defense attorney Colin Charbonneau did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
Farinacci denied starting the Old Trails fire when police initially contacted him, but during an interview with Drapeau, he confessed to that fire as well as others last year and last month, the detective wrote.
That led to the four additional arson charges.
He told the detective that he always carries marijuana or cigarettes so he would have a legitimate reason to have a lighter and matches.
“He knows arson is an easy crime to get away from if you have time, and he had time,” Drapeau said.
Farinacci researched the weather to predict a day that would be hot and windy and have low humidity for starting the Old Trails fire, Drapeau said.
He 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.
Farinacci picked Saturday, Aug. 1, to start the fire because he knew there would be strong winds — reaching 50 mph (80 kph), the detective said.
Farinacci said he knew it was going to get bad but claimed he didn’t intend for it to grow as much as it did, Drapeau said.
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 Associated Press on Tuesday.
“You get the feeling this guy’s up to something.”
Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said at a news conference Thursday that it’s going to be weeks before people can safely return to their homes in areas burned in the Spokane fires.
No deaths or serious injuries have been reported, he said.
Drapeau said Farinacci also admitted responsibility for 25 fires near his apartment building in summer 2025.
Most were near the Spokane River or the Centennial Trail.
Farinacci said he didn't think the Aubrey White fire that ignited on July 6, 2025, would cause damage but "one house got ‘slightly damaged’ from the side,” the detective said.
That blaze started near the Centennial Trail and soon became a large wildfire that threatened homes and structures, the court filing said.
It led to evacuations and road closures.
An investigation determined it was caused by arson, but police didn't have any suspects.
The Aubrey White fire was added to the charges against Farinacci, as were three others, the court filing states.
Farinacci faces arson charges for the Meenach fire that started on July 8, 2025, the Fort George fire on Aug. 11, 2025, and the Indian Bluff fire on July 24, 2026.
Farinacci served about a decade in prison after killing his father in Mesa, Arizona, in 2010.
He also shot himself at that time but survived.
He was charged with murder but pleaded guilty in 2012 to manslaughter and aggravated assault.
Farinacci’s lawyer repeatedly raised concerns about his mental health during the case.
Drapeau said Farinacci indicated that he moved to the Copper River Apartments in the Spokane area in October 2022.
The detective said Farinacci's son was born in 2025, and he started having difficulty dealing with “life issues” and began smoking marijuana.
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Associated Press reporter Hallie Golden contributed to this story from Seattle.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press.
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This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Speakers
8speakers61%attributed speech318writer words
Selected voice
76%flagged-word coverageJohn Nowels
42 attributed words8.6% of attributed speech23% writer coverage
Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.
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