These Fires Are The Worst Natural Disaster In The History Of Spokane And More Than 2 Million Acres Have Burned In Oregon

A tragedy of historic importance is occurring in the Northwest, and yet it is not getting nearly enough attention from the mainstream media. 65,000 people in the Spokane area have been forced to evacuate and many neighborhoods now resembles war zones after voracious wildfires came ripping through them. Meanwhile, more than 2,000,000 acres in the state of Oregon have burned to the ground. But since they are sitting in their fancy offices far away from the danger zone, many corporate media executives just don’t seem to care much about the nightmarish disaster that we are witnessing.

Yes, these fires are getting some coverage, but the truth is that they should be front page news all over the nation.

Three very large fires have now burned over 12 square miles in Spokane and the surrounding suburbs…

Authorities were struggling to contain several large wildfires in the Spokane, Washington, area that have forced roughly 65,000 people from their homes, destroyed hundreds of buildings and sent plumes of toxic smoke into the air.

Three wildfires have consumed more than 12.5 square miles of land in and around Spokane, the second largest city in the state, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The blazes were 0% contained as of Aug. 3.

As I write this article, the Autumn Lane Fire is up to 5,869 acres, the Fairview Fire is up to 1,056 acres, and the Old Trails Fire is up to 3,621 acres.

Police have now arrested the man that they believe is responsible for starting the Old Trails Fire…

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.

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.

I am so glad that they caught him.

When he was arrested, he was reportedly “in possession of some waterproof matches and a butane lighter”…

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.

“We believe it was matches or a lighter. 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.

You would have to either be deeply evil or completely insane to purposely start a fire when conditions are so hot and so dry, and this is not the first time that Farinacci has been it trouble with the law.

In 2010, Farinacci actually killed his own father…

Prior court records show that Farinacci is a convicted felon in Arizona for manslaughter and aggravated assault after killing his own father in 2010 following an argument between the two over cleaning the dishes.

Court documents show Farinacci was sentenced to 12 years, 732 days of credit for time served and was released from prison in December 2020 before being discharged from probation in December 2024.

These days, our society is absolutely teeming with predators such as this.

Once the fires started, California Interagency Incident Management Team 7 quickly arrived on the scene and took charge.

Personally, I thought that was very strange.

Why aren’t authorities from Washington state leading the response effort?

I do not have an explanation for that.

According to Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown, these fires are “the worst natural disaster our region has faced”…

The fires have burned between 700 and 1,100 structures, including homes and businesses, according to the California Interagency Incident Management Team 7, which is leading the response effort. Officials said the numbers were preliminary as crews were still working to contain the wildfires.

Gent Welsh, adjutant general of the Washington National Guard, said at a news conference Aug. 3 that the damaged areas resemble a “war zone.” A day earlier, Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown said the wildfires were “the worst natural disaster our region has faced.”

That is really saying something.

Spokane has a very long history, but this is the worst natural disaster in the entire history of the city.

One local resident that discovered that her home had burned to the ground says that her neighborhood now looks like “a war zone”…

“This is what I imagine a war zone is like,” Spokane resident Sheri Clark told the Spokesman-Review as she stared at the remnants of what used to be her home and beloved garden. “It feels unreal.”

Nearby, Kristin Renz surveyed the damage to the home of her son and daughter-in-law in northwest Spokane. There was very little that wasn’t scorched by the flames.

Her daughter-in-law, Kimber Renz, salvaged a muffin tin from the rubble.

Of course it isn’t just Spokane that is burning.

Since the beginning of the summer, over 1,000 wildfires have burned approximately 450,000 acres in Washington state.

Meanwhile, things have been even worse over in Oregon. More than 2,000,000 acres have burned so far in 2026, and the state is on pace to absolutely shatter the old yearly record…

Oregon is getting close to breaking the state’s all-time record for acres burned in a single wildfire season.

As of Monday morning, Carol Connolly, public information officer for the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, said 2,081,661 acres burned in Oregon in 2024.

So far in 2026, 60 large fires have burned 2,014,481 acres across Oregon.

This is not normal.

In fact, this is not even close to normal.

The other day, on one of my Facebook posts some guy claimed that I didn’t know what I was talking about because an El Niño event had not even started yet.

Obviously that guy had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

On June 11th, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officially confirmed that an El Niño event had begun.

Then a week later, NASA released an image of the El Niño event that the NOAA had already confirmed.

We have been witnessing crazy high temperatures all over the world, and now we are being warned that the worst is yet to come…

While many countries are already facing one of the hottest and driest summers on record, experts warn ‘this is only the warm–up act’.

The WMO now predicts that sea surface temperatures in key regions will exceed 2.9°C (5.2°F) above the seasonal average.

El Niño events typically reach their peak between November and February, and have their strongest influence on global weather during the start of the following year.

This means we are only just starting to experience the effects of what experts are calling the strongest El Niño event in recorded history.

Of course the insane weather patterns that we are witnessing are just one element of “the perfect storm” that we are currently experiencing.

If it seems to you that global events are going absolutely nuts, that is because global events really are going absolutely nuts.

Our planet is being baked by record heat, historic droughts are occurring all over the planet, and the world is not even going to come close to producing enough food for everyone this year.

Meanwhile, we are dealing with multiple wars, political chaos, outbreaks of disease and a surprising amount of seismic activity.

Sadly, most of the population has stuck their heads in the sand and refuses to acknowledge what is really happening.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing. You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter. Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.