# @downinnadesert on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DboQMsdD41S
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/68801300-downinnadesert-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/d7c46648cd.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-04T18:53:30.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Down In The Desert🌵 (@downinnadesert) — https://gondola.cc/downinnadesert

## Caption

The man accused of starting the fire that destroyed hundreds of homes outside Spokane was convicted of taking the life of his father in Mesa 14 years ago.

Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels announced Monday night that 37 year old Aaron F. Farinacci had been arrested on suspicion of arson in the Old Trails Fire. It sparked Saturday northwest of downtown Spokane, jumped the Spokane River and ripped through neighborhoods. More than 700 structures have been destroyed and over 60,000 people were forced to evacuate. Three fires in the region have burned roughly 12.5 square miles.

Here’s the part that’s going to stick with people up there. Witnesses reported a man acting suspicious and kneeling in the grass near where the fire started. Deputies detained him that same day about a mile down the road and questioned him, then released him so first responders could prioritize the fire. He had waterproof matches and a butane lighter on him.

By Sunday, major crimes detectives had linked him to the fire and determined its origin was exactly where witnesses said he’d been kneeling. He was arrested Monday about four miles from where it began.

The Arizona connection is the manslaughter conviction. Public records show Farinacci was convicted in 2012 for a life being took in Maricopa County in 2010. The victim was his father. He’s lived in the Spokane area since, and the sheriff says he has no prior arson convictions, though prosecutors say he’d been questioned before over arson-related behavior without ever being arrested or charged for it.

Washington’s entire congressional delegation asked the president Monday for an expedited emergency declaration. Hundreds of families up there have nothing left.

Via: ABC15, The Spokesman-Review, NBC News, Associated Press

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#Arizona #Mesa #AZNews #Spokane #DownInnaDesert

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## Tags

spokane, aznews, mesa, arizona, downinnadesert

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