Suspect in US North-west fire confessed to plotting actions: Police

LOS ANGELES – The man suspected of starting a recent fire that destroyed 800 structures in the US North-west has confessed to meticulously planning his actions and to setting two dozen other blazes since 2025, police said.

Suspect Aaron Farinacci, who appeared in court on Aug 6, had spent nearly 10 years in prison for killing his father, according to court records. He was released in 2020.

The 37-year-old was arrested earlier this week in a forest near the city of Spokane, Washington, where more than 65,000 people were forced to evacuate due to three fires.

He is suspected of starting the most destructive of the infernos, the Old Trails Fire, which devastated entire neighbourhoods as it roared through Spokane.

With his head shaved and wearing a yellow prison jumpsuit, Farinacci appeared in court where his bail was raised from US$1 million (S$1.3 million) to US$2 million. He did not indicate whether he intended to plead guilty or not guilty.

Prior to the hearing, he confessed to an investigator that he had been planning the fire for approximately two weeks, and he said he was consulting weather apps to predict a day with “high winds, low humidity, sort of high heat”, according to a court document filed on Aug 5.

He admitted to being fascinated by fire, and that “things that go through fire experience a kind of rebirth”, a detective said in the document.

Farinacci chose Aug 1 to start the blaze because he “knew it was going to be windy”, with gusts up to 80 kmh and other conditions that were “ideal to start a fire”, the document added.

Police said Farinacci chose the time and place because he knew it “was gonna get bad”, but he insisted he did not imagine the fire would become so destructive.

Farinacci has a long history of mental health issues, including the killing of his father for which he reportedly pleaded guilty.

According to court documents, he anguished about his plan and spent time “fighting” with himself before starting the fire.

His current defence team has requested a mental health evaluation.

Firefighters have made progress in recent days battling the wildfires around Spokane, a city of 230,000 people some 370km east of Seattle.

Authorities have reported no fire-related deaths, but they fear the weather may worsen this weekend, with temperatures and winds forecast to rise. AFP