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By Karina Tsui, Holly Yan, Chris Boyette, Cindy Von Quednow, CNN
(CNN) — A man suspected of arson in one of three wildfires tearing through eastern Washington state was formally charged Tuesday, as firefighters race to contain flames before they obliterate more homes.
Aaron F. Farinacci, 37, appeared in Spokane County Superior Court via video link from jail on Tuesday afternoon charged with first-degree arson. His bond was set at $1 million and an arraignment was scheduled for Thursday.
His arrest comes as a trio of calamitous fires has engulfed more than 10,000 acres and destroyed hundreds of homes and other structures in the Spokane area since igniting Saturday. As of Tuesday morning, the Old Trails Fire, the Autumn Lane Fire and the Fairview Fire have scorched more than 10,000 acres and remain uncontained, according to Inciweb, a clearinghouse for wildfire information.
“The situation is dire,” Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson told CNN Monday night. “These are neighborhoods in the city (of Spokane) that in large part have been just wiped out.”
Here’s the latest on the wildfires in eastern Washington state:
• Thousands of homes in jeopardy: More than 700 structures have been destroyed and about 10,000 more were at risk, officials said Monday.
• Mass evacuations in place: About 65,000 Spokane County residents had evacuated as of Monday, officials said. No injuries or deaths have been reported.
• 17 major wildfires statewide: About 262,000 acres have been charred by 17 major fires burning across Washington, the state’s commissioner of public lands said.
• Unhealthy air across states: Dozens of wildfires in the West have contributed to “unhealthy” or “very unhealthy” air quality in Washington, Oregon and parts of Idaho. Wildfire smoke can cause burning eyes, coughing and other respiratory irritation and can aggravate chronic heart and lung diseases.
• Unreachable residents contacted: All 14 people who had not been reachable Monday have now been contacted, Spokane County sheriff’s Cpl. Mark Gregory said Tuesday. “We do encourage people who have not been able to contact loved ones to make a report with Crime Check at 509-456-2233,” he said.
Arson suspect was seen in grass near fire’s origin, sheriff says
Farinacci was arrested Monday in connection with the Old Trails Fire, Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said. The county public defender’s office represented him at his Tuesday hearing.
Law enforcement contacted Farinacci last summer about two other fires, including a “suspicious” blaze that began near his home, according to the probable cause affidavit for Monday’s arrest. He was not arrested for either one.
In 2012, Farinacci was indicted on a murder charge in connection with the 2010 fatal shooting of his father in Arizona during an argument about washing dishes, according to records from the state’s department of corrections and The Associated Press. During that incident, Farinacci also shot himself, the AP reported.
Farinacci ultimately pleaded guilty to manslaughter and aggravated assault, court documents show. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and was released in December 2020.
“As far as we can determine right now, he is a Spokane resident,” Nowels said.
Farinacci was first seen by a witness Saturday, kneeling near the site where the Old Trails Fire later started, the sheriff said. The witness, Paul Child, told CNN he later saw smoke coming from the area and notified sheriff’s deputies.
Law enforcement reached Farinacci in the area, and he was “detained, questioned and ultimately released,” Nowels said.
“Farinacci denied starting the fire and denied being in the area of the fire,” an investigating officer’s affidavit filed in court says. Farinacci said he was walking on a route that he walks almost every day, the affidavit reads. Farinacci was then “released at the scene and deputies continued the process of evacuation and notification,” according to the affidavit.
During the initial detention, Farinacci was found with waterproof matches and a butane lighter, the sheriff said. But deputies “were not aware of the total facts of the incident, including the point of origin or source of the fire,” the affidavit reads.
An investigator eventually determined “the origin of the fire was indeed exactly where the witness had seen Mr. Farinacci kneeling in the grass,” Nowels said. The fire investigator “determined the cause of the fire was consistent with an open flame to vegetation such as would be expected by a lighter or a match,” the affidavit reads.
Investigators also used body-worn camera footage of investigators’ encounters with Farinacci to build their case and obtained an arrest warrant Monday.
A fire investigator determined the fire was consistent with grass being ignited by a match or lighter, Nowels said.
The notion that one of the fires was set intentionally added to the devastation of fire victims.
“It takes a tragic situation and just makes it more heartbreaking,” Ferguson said, “to think that much of this damage could have been caused by an individual doing this on purpose.”
Like a ‘war zone’
Swatches of the Spokane County area look like “a war zone,” said Maj. Gen. Gent Welsh, the adjutant general of the Washington National Guard.
Aerial images obtained by CNN show entire residential blocks burned and the surrounding vegetation charred.
When one family of five returned to Euclid Road, where their home once stood, they found nothing but their children’s toys and ash.
“This is the first time they’ve been here… the first thing (my son) said was, he didn’t see the house, and he was like, ‘Where’s the house?’ So that was sad to hear,” Teairra Atwood told CNN affiliate KWES. Atwood had returned to her decimated home with her two young boys.
It could take several weeks before people are allowed back home, Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown said, as safety checkpoints prevent some residents from entering charred areas.
Washington state’s primary elections are taking place Tuesday. But given the calamity, Spokane officials said they’ve made special accommodations to give access to ballot boxes for evacuees and others affected by the wildfires. Election officials are asking voters to visit nearby drop boxes outside of evacuation zones to drop off ballot packets.
‘We weren’t going to be able to stop anything’
About two hours into the Old Trails Fire, the blaze jumped the Spokane River, Spokane Fire Department spokesperson Justin de Ruyter said while walking through where the fire burned.
Had it not been for the winds, the fire “most likely” wouldn’t have done that, he added.
He said the blaze looked like a volcano that had just exploded.
“It was that boiling, rolling smoke, and that’s 15,000, 20,000 feet in air already,” he said “It was clear that we weren’t going to be able to stop anything.”
He described evacuating homes with little visibility as “absolute chaos.”
It had been decades since the fire department battled a large fire in the area, but “it was a matter of time that something like this was going to happen. You can only roll that dice so many times,” de Ruyter said.
The difference this time is the dense and dry fuel in the area.
The fire department and others work to clear brush, but homeowners have to do their part to reduce fuel — such as bushes and debris — around their homes, because when a fire is large enough, those homes can burn quickly.
Winds will ease across much of Washington and Oregon Tuesday night, giving firefighters a window of relatively favorable conditions. But humidity will recover poorly in many fire zones, especially across central and eastern Oregon, leaving parched vegetation primed to burn again Wednesday.
Destructive wildfires across Pacific Northwest
Oregon and Washington are experiencing their worst fire season in more than 30 years, with flames burning more than 2.1 million acres as of July 30.
In Oregon, the Coleman Creek Fire, Rowe Creek Complex Fire and Big Grass Fire remain among the nation’s largest active wildfires. Across the state, nearly 18,000 people are under evacuation orders, according to Oregon Wildfire Response & Recovery.
Oregon is battling 33 active fires that have burned nearly 2 million acres, and none had been fully contained as of Tuesday afternoon. Most of the state also remained under an air quality notice, with officials urging residents to monitor smoke conditions.
Heavy wildfire smoke will remain trapped across much of Washington and Oregon overnight and through at least Thursday, prolonging unhealthy air quality and reducing visibility. Some improvement is possible late in the week as stronger winds begin clearing smoke, but those same winds could make active fires more difficult to control and spread smoke into new areas.
Four new large wildfires, including the Griffin Fire in Montana, the Gann Fire in California, the Bear Hollow Fire in Texas and the South Connell Fire in Washington, were reported Monday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Extreme heat and dry conditions could fuel fire growth and increase the risk of new flames.
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CNN’s Matt Friedman, Tyler Ory, Elise Hammond, Sara Smart, Julianna Bragg, Alisha Ebrahimji, Briana Waxman, Dakota Smith, Amber Bowman, Marybel Gonzalez, Avni Trivedi and Amanda Jackson contributed to this report.
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