Eyewitness describes suspicious encounter that helped launch Washington wildfire arson probe
A Washington grandfather said a stranger lingering near a dead-end road where almost nobody goes immediately caught his attention – moments before smoke began rising from the same stretch of railroad tracks and a devastating wildfire erupted.
Paul Child was driving his grandson to pick up a friend Saturday when he noticed a bald man standing near the railroad tracks along West Euclid Road and staring into the tree line.
"I really didn’t think anything of it at that point," Child told Fox News Digital.
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About 10 minutes later, Child drove back along the same road and noticed the man was still there.
"This time he was kind of bent over and looked like he was doing something in the brush or the bushes and the grass and the trees," Child said. "When he saw us, then he kind of stood up and was acting kind of nervous."
Even Child’s grandson sensed something was off.
"My grandson said, ‘What’s he doing?’" Child said.
The family returned to their home and minutes later, Child’s daughter, Ana Dillon, glanced toward the same stretch of railroad tracks.
"I just happened to look up and saw a huge cloud of white smoke, then black smoke," Dillon told Fox News Digital.
Child immediately connected the smoke to the stranger he had seen lingering near the tree line.
"The first thing I thought was, ‘That SOB started the fire,’" Child alleged.
Child called 911 and tried to reach the only other homeowner on the dead-end stretch of road. The neighbor was not home, but Child reached him by phone and warned that a wildfire was moving toward the property, where workers were inside a shop behind the house.
"We drove down there and notified that person and told him maybe he should leave," Child said.
By then, firefighters had begun to arrive as flames spread across the dry grasslands and the family hurried to evacuate.
"The fire was coming toward us, so we packed up everything, everyone and animals," Dillon said.
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Child said the family fled their nearly 17-acre property with five dogs and two cats, later flagging down an Airway Heights police officer and describing the man he had seen as a bald white male wearing a green T-shirt and backpack, court records show.
He also told officers where the man had been standing before smoke began rising from the area. Spokane County sheriff’s deputies soon detained a man matching the description.
Child, his grandson and the grandson’s friend then traveled with an Airway Heights police officer to where deputies were holding the suspect. Sitting inside Child’s pickup about 50 yards away, the three watched as deputies removed the man from a patrol vehicle and had him face them.
"The only thing I could really identify on him was his build and what he was wearing," Child said. "There was no question in any of our minds that was the individual we saw."
Authorities later arrested Aaron F. Farinacci on suspicion of first-degree arson, accusing him of intentionally setting the Old Trails Fire, the largest of three wildfires that destroyed hundreds of buildings and forced about 67,000 people to evacuate.
Child said the family did not learn until the following day that deputies had initially released Farinacci before arresting him after investigators developed additional evidence.
Court records reviewed by Fox News Digital show Farinacci was previously charged with first-degree murder after fatally shooting his father during an argument in Arizona in 2010. He later pleaded guilty to reduced charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault, served about eight years in prison and was released in 2020.
Learning about Farinacci’s criminal history turned the family’s initial relief into concern, Child said.
"He knew where I lived," Child said. "Then to come to find out what his history was, it’s kind of like ... this dude could have come back down here."
Child said the man initially caught his attention because strangers rarely venture onto the family’s road. The county permanently closed the dead-end stretch several years ago, leaving only two homes beyond the barricade.
"There hasn’t been a lot of trespassing now," Child said. "If we see somebody down there, a lot of times we take it upon ourselves to pull up and say, ‘Are you OK?’ ... Nine times out of 10, they’re gone after that."
Dillon said anyone lingering near the tracks would immediately stand out to the family.
"There’s only two houses on this street," she said. "If anyone is on this street, we most always call Crime Check. No one should be on this road. It’s a closed road. Anyone standing and kneeling down by the train tracks that’s not a city worker is a red flag."
While Child’s observations helped point investigators toward a suspect, retired Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives executive Scott Sweetow said eyewitness accounts are only the beginning of a wildfire arson investigation.
Fire investigators must first determine where a blaze started before they can establish how it ignited, Sweetow told Fox News Digital. That requires them to work backward from the aftermath, examine how the terrain and vegetation burned and eliminate plausible accidental causes.
"Arson fire in general is very hard to investigate," Sweetow said. "It requires a very meticulous focused effort that is not present in a lot of other investigations. And what complicates it is the fact that the evidence that you have to examine is often badly damaged by fire."
Investigators can reconstruct a fire’s earliest moments using witness accounts, video, cellphone data, first-responder observations and physical evidence. They also examine potential causes such as lightning, power infrastructure, trains, discarded smoking materials or other ignition sources.
That process can allow investigators to determine that a person started a fire even when no single item definitively establishes how it began, Sweetow said.
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"It’s not magic. The grass doesn’t just burst into flame for no reason," Sweetow said. "So by eliminating all the causes that weren’t you figure out the cause that was, if that makes sense."
Sweetow cautioned against placing too much weight on any single piece of evidence, including investigators’ claim that Farinacci was carrying waterproof matches and a butane lighter when deputies first contacted him.
He said windproof and waterproof matches are more specialized than ordinary paper or wooden matches and are designed to remain lit in conditions that could extinguish a conventional match. Investigators would likely look for remnants of the same type of match near the fire’s point of origin, he said.
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"They’re very expensive. And they’re designed really almost like a little portable flare," Sweetow said.
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The matches and lighter would still need to be considered alongside witness statements, physical evidence, electronic records and forensic findings. Sweetow said wildfire arson cases often depend on the combined weight of numerous facts rather than one decisive piece of evidence.
He also said the decision to release Farinacci before arresting him after further investigation was not inherently unusual, particularly in a fast-moving emergency in which deputies were focused on evacuations and investigators had not yet completed their work.
"I wouldn’t say it’s particularly unusual, it just seems like good police and investigator work to put the case together," Sweetow said.
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Court records show fire investigators later concluded the blaze originated where Child reported seeing the man. They ruled out trains and nearby electrical infrastructure before determining the fire was consistent with dry grass being ignited by an open flame from a match or lighter.
For Child, the investigation has been about the people whose homes and property were destroyed.
"My heart goes out to everybody," he said. "Hopefully the individual that caused all their pain and suffering is going to be held accountable for those actions."