Alleged arsonist admits to starting one Spokane wildfire and more than two dozen others since last year, prosecutors say

(CNN) — The alleged arsonist in the first of three devastating wildfires in Washington state last week admitted to igniting the blaze and more than two dozen others since last year, court documents show.

Four of the fires that Aaron Farinacci, 37, confessed to starting have been corroborated by detectives, prosecutors said. He is now charged with a total of five counts of first-degree arson, including one count in connection with the Old Trails Fire, which ignited Saturday.

The stunning development comes as fire crews continue working to contain destructive fires in the Spokane area and are preparing for another bout of strong winds and intense heat through the weekend.

The criminal charges “may be further amended as the full extent of the defendant’s criminal acts becomes known,” prosecutors said.

CNN has contacted Farinacci’s attorney for comment on the new charges.

The detective’s account of Farinacci’s confession that he started four different fires means that the case qualifies as serial arson, defined by the US Department of Justice as an offense by those who set three or more fires with a long period of time between them.

They include the Aubrey White fire on July 6, 2025, which burned over 1,200 acres; another one less than 5 miles away just two days later; the Equestrian Fire on August 11, 2025; and the Indian Bluff Fire on July 24 of this year, the document said.

“He feels fire is powerful, beautiful, and that things that go through fire experience a kind of rebirth,” one detective who interviewed Farinacci wrote in the affidavit.

Farinacci was initially charged with one count of first-degree arson stemming from the Old Trails Fire that, together with two other fires, have in recent days destroyed over 10,000 acres, wiped out hundreds of homes and led to tens of thousands of evacuations. Prosecutors subsequently added four additional first-degree arson charges.

He appeared in court Thursday, during which the judge ordered him to be held on a $2 million bond and his defense attorney said he would be filing an order for competency evaluation.

Farinacci had previously pleaded guilty to a felony manslaughter charge stemming from the 2010 fatal shooting of his father.

A key witness who drove past Farinacci twice shortly before the Old Trails Fire started led law enforcement to identify him as a suspect after seeing smoke billowing from the same spot crossed paths with the man earlier.

“My first response was … ‘That S.O.B. started a fire,’” said Paul Child, who lives less than half a mile from where investigators say the fire started.

He chose a windy day for the arson attack

During his first interview with detectives after being arrested, Farinacci initially denied he was involved in any fire for roughly the first hour and a half, court documents said.

But then he described “in detail his planning and execution” of starting the Old Trails Fire, prosecutors say. What was revealed in that interview became the basis for the four new charges.

One detective described him as intelligent, detail oriented and “knowledgeable about fire, winds, and fire warning protocol.”

He also had “extensive knowledge of other arson suspects and their methodology” and had researched serial arsonist John Leonard Orr and purchased items to make a “time delay device” for starting a wildfire, according to the affidavit.

Farinacci told detectives he was dealing with personal struggles after his son was born last year and said he always had marijuana or cigarettes on him “so he would be able to have a legitimate reason to have a lighter and or matches and to assist with an arson alibi,” one detective said.

“He knows arson is an easy crime to get away from if you have time, and he had time,” the detective wrote.

Farinacci began planning what became the first fire on Saturday around two weeks before it started and researched on a weather app what day would have “high winds, low humidity, sort of high heat,” the affidavit said.

He ultimately decided to start a fire on August 1, admitting he “knew for a fact it was going to be windy,” the document said.

If confronted by police, Farinacci’s plan was to pull a knife from his backpack and “try to get the police to shoot him” but later decided to “feign innocence,” the detective wrote.

This story has been updated with additional information.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Matthew Friedman, Holly Yan, Graham Hurley and Mary Gilbert contributed to this report.