A Spokane man spent weeks planning a wildfire that would destroy hundreds of homes, and the press is telling you everything except why he did it.
Aaron Farinacci, 37, is charged with first-degree arson for starting the Old Trails Fire — one of three blazes that have scorched more than 10,000 acres and destroyed roughly 850 homes and buildings across Spokane County. Tens of thousands of Americans were forced to evacuate. The destruction is total. And across three major outlets covering the arrest, none bothered to ask the question that matters: what actually motivated this man?
Here's what we know. Farinacci researched weather conditions for weeks, waiting for a day with "high winds, low humidity, sort of high heat," according to Spokane County Detective Michael Drapeau's court filing. He picked Saturday, Aug. 1, when winds hit 50 mph. He studied the work of a well-known serial arsonist. He built a "time delay device" from notebook paper, matches, a cigarette, and a rubber band. This wasn't impulse. It was premeditation.
Farinacci told police he found "fire is powerful, beautiful, and that things that go through fire experience a kind of rebirth," Drapeau wrote. He also said arson "is an easy crime to get away (with)," according to the affidavit, and kept marijuana or cigarettes on hand as an "arson alibi" if caught with a lighter near a fire.
He was caught — but not before law enforcement let him walk. Twice. The Seattle Times reported that sheriff's deputies and a state fire investigator stopped Farinacci on the day of the fire and released him both times. He wasn't arrested until Monday, two days later, after a citizen — not the system — did the job. Paul Child, 64, was driving with his grandson when he spotted Farinacci lingering near railroad tracks, "bent over in the brush, acting nervous." "You get the feeling this guy's up to something," Child told the Associated Press. Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels credited citizens, not his department's initial contacts, with the apprehension: "It was citizens who were paying attention to their surroundings... that led to the relatively quick apprehension."
Farinacci's history should have set off alarms long before August. He served roughly a decade in prison after killing his father in Mesa, Arizona, in 2010 — an argument over washing dishes that ended in a fatal shooting. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and aggravated assault in 2012. His defense attorney raised mental health concerns even then. He moved to Spokane in October 2022. By 2025, according to Drapeau, a son was born and Farinacci "began having trouble dealing with life issues." He started smoking marijuana. And he started setting fires — admitting to 25 around his apartment building near the Spokane River and Centennial Trail, most in the summer of 2025. Prosecutors say they've corroborated at least four, including a July blaze at Riverside State Park that burned more than 1,200 acres and forced evacuations.
The Seattle Times, which published the story in its environment section, framed it around the scope of additional charges and the 25 other fires. It also declined to name Farinacci — a policy the paper applies until suspects are formally charged, though WIS10 and KOMO named him freely. The paper buried the detail that deputies released Farinacci twice on the day of the fire — arguably the most damning institutional failure in the entire saga.
KOMO led with community impact — burned-out cars, destroyed homes, a resident named Mrisa Caru who said she lost "nearly everything." It gave Sheriff Nowels a platform to praise citizen vigilance without pressing him on why his deputies let the suspect go.
WIS10 provided the fullest account of Farinacci's statements to police, including his research into serial arsonists and his construction of the timing device. But like the others, it stopped at the "what" and never reached the "why."
A judge set bond at $1 million, according to KOMO and The Seattle Times; WIS10 reported $2 million. Farinacci's attorney requested a competency evaluation before he enters a plea, and Spokane Superior Court Judge Jeremy Schmidt said he would review it.
Three outlets. One arsonist. Eight hundred fifty destroyed structures. And not a single reporter asked what was in this man's head — what he read, who he followed, what ideology or grievance or fixation drove him to plan mass destruction for weeks. If his motive fit a convenient narrative, you'd already know it. The silence tells you what you need to know about the rest.
