Huge swathes of Eastern Washington around the city of Spokane are ablaze, with fires consuming at least 700 buildings and forcing the evacuation of 65,000 people.
It’s not climate change that caused the conflagrations, however, according to law enforcement officials: they’re alleging that a convicted killer who was somehow walking the streets set at least one of the three blazes intentionally.
He is 37-year-old Aaron Farinacci, and he pleaded guilty in 2012 in Arizona to manslaughter and aggravated assault after initially being charged with first-degree murder in the death of his father.
He was nabbed by police Monday after a witness saw him bending down in some grass in the suburbs north of Spokane and is now being held on a $1 million bond as he faces a first-degree arson charge.
🚨 UPDATE: A man has been ARRESTED for ARSON after the Democrat governor of Washington blamed the Spokane fires on climate change
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 4, 2026
Aaron Farinacci is not only suspected of starting the fires but previously m*rdered his FATHER.
Imagine that.
WHY WAS HE ON THE STREET?!?! pic.twitter.com/0Ybtz09Xr7
MORE: Washington State Wildfires Burn Over 6,000 Acres, With 60,000 Homes Evacuated
A RedState Photo Odyssey: The Devastation of the Pacific Palisades Is America's Wake-Up Call
Here’s Farinacci’s troubled past, as detailed in a 2010 report:
Police says [sic] a 21-year-old Arizona man fatally shot his father then turned the gun on himself after they argued about the son doing the dishes.
Mesa police found Aaron Farinacci (fehr-ihn-AH'-chee) blocks from his parent's house with a gunshot wound to his chest. He was in critical condition Tuesday.
Police say the incident began just after 6 p.m. Monday when Aaron Farinacci argued with his father, Jeffrey Farinacci, then ran into his parent's bedroom and locked the door. Jeffrey Farinacci got a key and unlocked the door, and his wife then heard two shots. She told police her son pointed the gun at her as she went to investigate.
He was released in 2020. In many blue states, “do the crime, serve the crime” is nothing but a quaint notion.
Now that he’s back in civilian life, he’s allegedly brought devastation with him:
Fire investigators reported that the Old Trails fire appeared to be intentionally set by using a match or a butane lighter to ignite grass, the sheriff said. That blaze was one of the three — along with the Autumn Lane and Fairview fires — that ravaged parts of Spokane on Saturday and Sunday.
Mr. Farinacci was carrying waterproof matches and a butane lighter when he was arrested, Sheriff Nowels said at a Monday evening news conference.
We know what happened next:
WATCH: Drone footage shows entire neighborhoods reduced to ashes after the massive Spokane County wildfire. Around 65,000 people have been evacuated. pic.twitter.com/0hj5woghHG
— Scope Report (@ScopeReport_) August 3, 2026
Spokane is a beautiful area; two of my kids have gone to school up there, and it’s devastating to see what’s happening. I know just what it’s like, seeing as the Pacific Palisades and Malibu areas in my city of Los Angeles still lie in ruins — also allegedly at the hands of an arsonist, not “global warming.”
And it probably wouldn’t have happened if this psycho who admittedly committed patricide weren’t walking around as a free man.
Editor’s Note: The American people overwhelmingly support President Trump’s law and order agenda.
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