Male accused of starting devastating Spokane fire was convicted of killing his adoptive father in Arizona, officials say

The 37-year-old male accused of starting the devastating Old Trails Fire in Spokane, Washington — which has displaced more than 60,000 people since Saturday — was convicted of killing his father in Arizona, officials told KPNX-TV.

The station, citing records, said Aaron Farinacci was convicted over a decade ago of manslaughter and aggravated assault after killing his father.

'It was citizens who were paying attention to their surroundings, being aware and willing to step up and say something, that led to the relatively quick apprehension of Mr. Farinacci.'

Farinacci was released from prison six years ago, KPNX said, and he was arrested Monday on a first-degree arson charge.

"Mr. Farinacci is a convicted felon out of the state of Arizona," Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said, according to the station. "Major crimes detectives in Spokane County were able to identify him. They developed probable cause and determined the origin of the fire was indeed exactly where the witnesses had seen Mr. Farinacci kneeling in the grass earlier that day.”

According to the sheriff, a witness said Farinacci was bending down near some grass and looked nervous — and then the witness said smoke was coming from the area soon after, KPNX reported.

The sheriff added to the station that Farinacci was carrying waterproof matches and butane when he was arrested.

Spokane County Jail records indicate that Farinacci remained behind bars Wednesday on a $1 million bond.

"As it happens in so many critical cases, it was citizens who were paying attention to their surroundings, being aware and willing to step up and say something, that led to the relatively quick apprehension of Mr. Farinacci," Sheriff Nowels said, according to KREM-TV.

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Documents show that Farinacci pleaded guilty to shooting and killing his father in October 2010 amid a domestic dispute, KREM reported in a separate story.

Farinacci, 21 years old at the time, was in the dining room with his mother and adoptive father when he got into an argument with his father over doing the dishes, KREM said, citing records.

More from KREM:

The man then retreated into his parents' bedroom, and his father followed, opening the bedroom door with a key. Documents show that Farinacci armed himself with a gun kept in the room and shot his father, striking him in the face, and then shot him again in the back as his father turned to leave.

Farinacci ran from the scene and then "shot himself in the chest with the same gun he used to shoot his father," according to documents.

Farinacci told police that the shooting was an accident and that he felt he "deserved to be sentenced to prison as he took someone's life."

Farinacci was convicted of manslaughter and aggravated assault in 2012, KREM said, adding that records show he was released from prison in 2020 and discharged from probation in 2024 while living with a girlfriend in Washington state.

Farinacci, a Spokane resident, has no previous history of arson, KREM said.

The Old Trails Fire has become the most destructive fire in Spokane history, KREM added, forcing more than 60,000 people to evacuate and burning down at least 700 homes.

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