A Washington man has been arrested on suspicion of starting one of the catastrophic wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes and forced tens of thousands of people to flee around Spokane.
Aaron F. Farinacci, 37, was arrested Monday and booked on suspicion of first-degree arson in connection with the Old Trails Fire, the largest of three major blazes burning around Washington's second-largest city, the Spokane County Sheriff's Office said.
The fires have destroyed at least 700 buildings, scorched about 12.5 square miles and forced roughly 67,000 people to evacuate. Authorities have not identified a cause for the other two fires.
Sheriff John Nowels said investigators were led to Farinacci after a witness reported seeing a nervous-looking man crouched near dry grass close to where the fire later ignited.
Deputies initially questioned and released Farinacci, but detectives reviewing body camera footage and witness statements later determined the fire started where he had been seen. When he was detained, authorities said he was carrying matches and a butane lighter.
"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," Nowels said.
Farinacci was scheduled to make his first court appearance Tuesday. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney. Authorities said he has a previous felony manslaughter conviction in Arizona.
The Old Trails Fire erupted Saturday northwest of downtown Spokane before jumping the Spokane River and racing through neighborhoods.
Some residents returned Monday to find little left but chimneys and piles of ash.
"There's nothing to save," said Miriam Sim, 76, as she and her husband, Daniel, surveyed the remains of the home they had lived in since 2005.
"At our age, do we want to rebuild?" her husband said.
Officials said calmer weather had helped firefighters make progress, but hotter, drier conditions were expected to return by midweek. More than 1,000 firefighters from Washington and other states were battling the blazes, with that number expected to double.
No deaths or major injuries have been reported.
The Spokane County Sheriff's Office said it initially received nearly 300 reports of missing people, but by Monday had resolved all but 14, with officials believing most of those involved people who had not yet contacted family after evacuating.
Among those who lost everything were Angela and Wayde Deatherage, who escaped with their son and a handful of family photographs and heirlooms before returning to find their home destroyed.
"Our house is done," Wayde Deatherage told his wife after driving back to check on the property.
Before leaving, he turned a hose onto a neighboring house, which survived the fire.
"It's just ash," Angela Deatherage said of the home where the family had lived for nearly 22 years. "There's just so much loss for so many people."
Karen Faggioli, 61, also lost her home and three vehicles, while her daughter's nearby house was destroyed.
Recovering from breast cancer, she said she was trying to stay positive.
"Why cry? What's crying going to do?" Faggioli said. "We're strong — and now we get all new things."
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