A man arrested over the most destructive of three wildfires burning around Spokane, Washington, told investigators he spent roughly two weeks planning the blaze and deliberately chose a day of strong winds, low humidity and high heat, according to court documents released this week. Aaron Farinacci, 37, appeared in court on Thursday, where a county judge raised his bond to $2 million (£1.6 million) and ordered a mental competency evaluation. No plea was entered.

In an affidavit, a Spokane County detective testified that Farinacci admitted to using a weather app to identify 1 August as the optimal date, when gusts were forecast to reach 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). He is alleged to have researched a well-known serial arsonist and assembled a time-delay device from notebook paper, matches, a cigarette and a rubber band. The suspect told police that “fire is powerful, beautiful, and that things that go through fire experience a kind of rebirth,” the filing states.

The Old Trails Fire, which Farinacci is accused of starting, is one of three blazes that erupted that Saturday and swept through the outskirts of the city. Authorities have confirmed no deaths or injuries, but the fires destroyed more than 700 structures, with one official count citing 694 damaged or destroyed in the Old Trails Fire alone and at least 913 across all three incidents. Evacuation orders affected between 60,000 and 70,000 residents, roughly a quarter of Spokane’s population. Firefighters have since built containment lines, though red-flag warnings remain in effect for the weekend.

Farinacci, who served nearly a decade in prison for killing his father before his release in 2020, also allegedly claimed responsibility for 25 other fires set near his home since July 2025. A witness told the Associated Press he saw a man kneeling in brush at the fire’s origin point minutes before smoke appeared, leading police to the suspect. The investigation is ongoing, and authorities caution that the provisional damage toll may rise as assessments continue.