SPOKANE, Wash – A convicted felon has been arrested on an arson charge, suspected of starting the fire that has now burned thousands of acres and hundreds of homes.
Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels made the announcement in a news conference Monday night.
A person reported seeing the man in the trees looking nervous, then 10 minutes later saw smoke rising from the area.
A man matching the description was questioned the day of the fire, but then released. He was in possession of waterproof matches and a butane lighter.
Piecing together evidence later, they positively identified the man and developed probable cause that the man was kneeling in the grass at the spot where the fire started.
The suspect, 37-year-old Aaron Farinacci, was arrested Monday night in the City of Spokane and is now being held on a $1 million bond.
The man arrested has a previous conviction for manslaughter in Arizona.
The Old Trails fire started Saturday afternoon near Airway Heights, then quickly pushed through Riverside State Park and into neighborhoods in north Spokane.
Hundreds of structures, including entire neighborhoods, have burned.
Thousands of people remain out of their homes due to widespread evacuation orders.
The fire is one of three burning in the Spokane area, considered to be the top fire priority in the nation.
The fires have burned more than 10,000 acres as of Monday evening.
Sheriff Nowels said there’s no indication Farinacci had anything to do with the other fires burning in Spokane.
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