SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A man from Spokane, Washington, was arrested Monday and charged with setting one of the devastating wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes and other structures in and around the state’s second-largest city.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said Aaron F. Farinacci, 37, was arrested and booked on suspicion of first degree arson in connection with the Old Trails Fire, the largest of three blazes burning around Spokane.
Together, the fires have destroyed at least 700 buildings and forced some 67,000 people to evacuate. Authorities haven't stated a possible cause for the other two fires.
A tip from a community member who saw a nervous-looking man bent by the side of the road near some grass initially led authorities to Farinacci, though they released him after initial questioning, Sheriff John Nowels said Monday night.
Later, when major crimes detectives started investigating using body worn cameras and reports, they again identified Farinacci and determined that the fire had started where the witness had seen him, Nowels said. Farinacci had matches and a butane lighter when he was detained, Nowels said.
“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,” he said.
Farinacci’s first court appearance will be Tuesday, according to Spokane County Prosecutor Preston McCollam. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. He has been convicted of felony manslaughter in Arizona.
The Old Trails Fire sparked Saturday northwest of downtown Spokane, eventually jumping over the Spokane River and ripping through neighborhoods.
Earlier Monday, some residents returned to find their homes leveled by wildfires that erupted across a parched landscape over the weekend, covering yards in charred debris. In some cases, only chimneys were left standing.
“There’s nothing to save,” Miriam Sim, 76, said Monday as she and her husband, Daniel Sim, surveyed the ruins of the home where they had lived since 2005.
“At our age, do we want to rebuild?” her husband asked.
Together, the three fires burned about 12.5 square miles (about 32 square kilometers) by Monday. The sky filled with smoke and haze. Calmer winds and lower temperatures arrived to help firefighters, but it was expected to be hot and dry again by midweek.
In one Spokane neighborhood, blackened vehicles, a boat twisted by the heat and melted plastic recycling bins remained. Across the street, lawns were still green and houses were spared, as residents continued to run hoses or sprinklers to water their properties.
“Hundreds of people have completely lost their homes and farms, and many are prohibited from returning to their homes or neighborhoods as crews continue to extinguish smoldering embers,” the state's entire congressional delegation wrote Monday in asking President Donald Trump to approve an expedited emergency declaration.
Cpl. Mark Gregory, a spokesperson for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, said the county initially received nearly 300 reports of missing people, but by Monday they had cleared all but 14.
Those outstanding reports more likely represented people who had not been in contact since evacuating than people who were truly missing or in danger, authorities said.
The Spokane-area wildfires were completely uncontained, fire officials said. More than 1,000 firefighters, many from out of state, had arrived by Monday, and that number was expected to double in the next few days.
The fires were among dozens across the Western U.S. stretching the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them. At least 390 square miles (1,000 square kilometers) has burned across Washington, which has contended with severe drought and a paltry snowpack.
Authorities warned people not to fly drones near the burned areas, saying it could force them to delay aerial firefighting operations.
Angela and Wayde Deatherage, both 49, evacuated shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday with a son, grabbing a few bins of family photos and heirloom rings but not much else. Roughly 30 minutes later, their security camera was sending fire notifications to Angela’s phone.
Wayde Deatherage took some back roads and returned by early evening. He stopped at the end of the street and called his wife: “Our house is done.”
Deatherage, however, wasn't done with his neighborhood. He propped a hose at another house so it sprayed the property. That home survived.
The couple returned to their property Sunday.
“It’s just ash,” Angela Deatherage said of the home where they had lived for nearly 22 years. ”It’s like our house sunk down in the basement. ... There’s just so much loss for so many people.”
Karen Faggioli, 61, figured she would be returning to her home. She recalled how other recent fires had been brought under control. But a relative texted her the bad news: Her house and three vehicles were destroyed. A daughter lost her nearby house, too.
“Why cry? What’s crying going to do? I’ve been through so many tragedies myself,” said Faggioli, who is recovering from breast cancer. “This is nothing. Like I told my granddaughter, ‘We’re strong — and now we get all new things.’ I’m emotionally numb.”
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Johnson reported from Seattle, and White from Detroit. Associated Press writers Manuel Valdes in Spokane; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H.; and Martha Bellisle and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
