Aaron Farinacci, 37, a resident of Spokane in Washington and ex-convict, was arrested on Monday in connection with the largest wildfire that destroyed nearly 700 buildings and displaced over 65,000 people.

A SWAT team arrested Mr Farinacci without incident on Monday. He didn’t put up any resistance against the security officials after investigations established a link between him and the fire.

“Detectives determined that the origin of the fire was indeed exactly where the witnesses had seen Mr Farinacci kneeling in the grass,” Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said

Mr Farinacci became a person of interest in the case after a witness told the authorities that they saw a man around the Old Trails Fire before it started. 

According to the witness, the man paced the area and closely observed the trees and at times crouched to touch the grass.

“The man looked very nervous,” Mr Nowels said, recounting the witness’ testimony.

Mr Farinacci will be charged with first degree arson alongside other litany of charges. He is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.