Aaron Farinacci, 37, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree arson in connection with the Old Trails Fire, the biggest of three blazes that have destroyed at least 700 buildings and forced 65,000 people from their homes. 

Farinacci served about a decade in prison for manslaughter after killing his father in Arizona in 2010, following an argument about cleaning the dishes. Farinacci used his father's gun to kill him, and then he turned the gun on himself, but he survived his wounds. Farinacci was questioned about two other fires last year. 

Critics on social media have proposed that Spokane was targeted for fires to clear the land for a large data center, but mainstream media denies it.

.

Aaron Farinacci, 37, served about a decade in prison after killing his father in Arizona in 2010.

Last year, authorities questioned him in two fire-related cases in Spokane. One involved several "bus-sized" fires in an area near Farinacci's apartment in July 2025, police records in that case say. The other involved a wildfire in a state park that prompted evacuation notices the following month. In neither case was he arrested.