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· collected 2026-08-04 · by Kris Van Cleave, Jordan Freiman
Aaron Farinacci, a 37-year-old Spokane resident with a prior manslaughter conviction, was arrested on suspicion of first degree arson in connection with the Old Trails Fire, which has destroyed over 700 buildings and forced evacuations of around 67,000 people. He was booked on $1 million bond after being found in possession of waterproof matches and a butane lighter near where the fire began. The fires, fueled by extreme drought and high heat, have left many residents without homes, with one resident stating that "all of our memories are gone" after losing her home to the blaze. Authorities are still searching for 14 people who may be unreachable due to poor cell phone coverage, but so far there have been no reported deaths.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Why this leaning score
The article uses phrases like 'devastating' and 'nightmare situation' to describe the wildfires, which could imply a sense of sympathy or concern for those affected, without necessarily leaning one way or the other politically. However, the lack of emotive language in describing Aaron Farinacci's arrest and the neutral phrasing used when discussing his prior conviction suggests a relatively even-handed approach.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score -0.20 for article 344 · logged 2026-08-04
A 37-year-old man was arrested Monday for allegedly starting the largest of the three devastating Spokane, Washington-area wildfires that are leaving some residents with nothing.
uncertain
that → arrest → nothing
Aaron Farinacci, a Spokane resident who has a prior manslaughter conviction, was booked on suspicion of first degree arson in connection with the Old Trails Fire and was being held on $1 million bond, the Spokane County Sheriff's Office said.
asserted
Office → have → bond
Authorities began investigating Farinacci after a witness saw him kneeling near grass where the fire began, Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels told a press conference late Monday.
asserted
Nowels → begin → conference
"We believe it was matches or a lighter.
asserted
it → believe → ?
When he was detained ... he was found to be in possession of some waterproof matches and a butane lighter," the sheriff said, adding that Farinacci was only arrested in connection with the Old Trails Fire.
asserted
Farinacci → detain → Fire
With some 67,000 people under evacuation orders amid the
, hundreds could be coming home to total losses.
uncertain
hundreds → come → losses
"All of our memories are gone," said Anna Andreachi, a Spokane resident whose home was lost in the blaze.
asserted
home → go → blaze
"My dad just died, and all of his stuff was still in there, too."
asserted
all → die → stuff
More than 700 buildings in the Spokane area have been destroyed, and another 400 have yet to be assessed, officials said Monday.
asserted
officials → destroy → area
"It's a nightmare situation," Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said.
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Ferguson → say → ?
Joe Cvancara and his family managed to save their home by digging a fire line.
asserted
Cvancara → manage → line
But his neighbor's home and at least eight others in the area were destroyed.
asserted
home → destroy → area
Cvancara said he's grateful but that it feels like "almost survivor's guilt, in a way.
asserted
it → say → way
So we're going to open our home to our neighbors.
asserted
we → go → neighbors
I know it's going to take a long time to rebuild."
asserted
it → know → time
The fires began Saturday, when extreme drought, bone-dry brush, high heat and wicked winds combined to create a dangerous environment for fires to spread quickly.
asserted
fires → begin → environment
Firefighters went door to door trying to save as many homes as they could, but were soon overwhelmed.
uncertain
they → go → homes
As of Monday, no deaths had been reported.
asserted
deaths → report → Monday
Spokane County Sheriff John Knowles told reporters on Monday there were 14 people authorities were trying to get in touch with, but stressed that he didn't want to qualify them as missing.
asserted
he → tell → them
"These are people who may have called for help or for help evacuating, and many of them likely did get evacuated," he said.
uncertain
he → call → them
"You know, with poor cell phone coverage, people's cell phone batteries die or they get to some place where they do find shelter and we haven't been able to reach them by phone.
asserted
we → know → phone
So, that's the task ... for those 14 people that we haven't been able to talk to."
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we → talk → that
The Old Trails Fire and the Fairview Fire are both still burning, but the main focus for firefighters on Sunday and Monday was the Autumn Lane Fire.
asserted
focus → burn → Sunday
The heat and wind that initially fueled the fires had died down by the beginning of the week, but the dangerous conditions are expected to return by Wednesday.
asserted
conditions → fuel → Wednesday
Daniel Ramey, a spokesperson for the California Interagency Incident Management Team 7, which is taking part in the firefighting efforts, told CBS News that the next few days could be critical for firefighting efforts.
uncertain
days → take → efforts
"It looks like Wednesday into Friday we're going to be seeing a heat trend up to the 90s, so it's really time for us to put in the work ... on this fire up north and continue the efforts with getting the communities back into their homes as soon as possible below us," he said.
asserted
he → look → us
Ramey said that while the three fires aren't particularly big compared to other notable wildfires, the issue is that they have occurred in what's known as the wildland-urban interface — areas where human structures sit on the edge or within the wilderness.
asserted
structures → say → wilderness
"There's always a chance when you live next to trees and grass and the beautiful nature that you're going to have a potential for fire like we saw," he said.
asserted
he → be → fire
"We didn't have rain for the whole month of July in this area, so everything was extremely dry.
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everything → have → area
Everything was susceptible to those new starts, like we saw."
asserted
we → see → starts
At least 16 major fires are burning in Washington state.
asserted
fires → burn → state
In Utah, a fire has burned nearly 70,000 acres after doubling in size Monday.
asserted
fire → burn → size
The Big Rock Fire in southeastern Idaho has burned more than 2,500 acres and forced evacuations.
asserted
Fire → burn → evacuations
Ramey warns things could get worse, with California still relatively quiet so far but firefighting resources already stretched thin.
uncertain
resources → warn → ?
