SEATTLE — A man suspected of intentionally starting one of three major wildfires that have forced tens of thousands to evacuate and burned more than 10,000 acres across Spokane County since Saturday was previously contacted by authorities in at least two other arson investigations in the same area.

The 37-year-old was stopped twice by Spokane County sheriff’s deputies and a state investigator Saturday after they spotted him walking in the area of the Old Trails wildfire, but he was released both times. Deputies arrested him two days later at his Spokane apartment, according to court records.

The man was booked Monday night into the Spokane County Jail on suspicion of first-degree arson and is being held on $1 million bond.

The Seattle Times typically does not name suspects until they are charged. A public defender representing the man did not immediately respond Tuesday to inquiries.

Over 60,000 people have been ordered to evacuate due to the Old Trails, Autumn Lane and Fairview wildfires, which are all burning in and around Spokane, Washington state’s second-largest city. The trio had damaged more than 700 structures and remained uncontained Tuesday, fire officials said. All three remain under investigation.

Investigators identified the man suspected of starting the Old Trails wildfire after a resident living near its origin point reported seeing him at about noon Saturday, bent over by nearby train tracks. The resident told police he drove past the man, who stood up and looked “nervous” when he noticed the approaching car, according to an affidavit filed Monday in Spokane County Superior Court.

People started calling 911 at about the same time to report the fire, records show.

A pair of sheriff’s deputies stopped and handcuffed a man matching the suspect’s description later that day after spotting him walking about a mile from the fire, but released him after he denied starting it. The deputies reported the man was wearing a green shirt bearing the words, “Who needs luck I have charm,” and carrying cigarettes, a butane lighter and a box of matches inside his fanny pack, according to the affidavit.

At some point, a fire investigator with the state’s Department of Natural Resources was heading toward the fire when he spotted the same man in the area and stopped him. The investigator left after the man told him he had just been interviewed by police, the affidavit states.

On Sunday, the state investigator determined the fire was likely arson and was probably started by an open flame produced by a lighter or a match.

He also recognized the man he had spoken to the day before as a potential suspect in a separate fire last year at Riverside State Park’s equestrian area, according to the affidavit. The area is less than two miles northwest of the man’s apartment.

The investigator reviewed Washington State Patrol’s investigation of the Aug. 11, 2025, fire, which included photographs of a man seen in the area wearing a green T-shirt bearing the words, “Who needs luck I have charm,” and of a Bic lighter he was presumably carrying at the time.

The investigator learned the same man was also contacted by Spokane police one month earlier regarding a separate report of potential arson, according to the affidavit.

Officials did not charge him in either incident.

The man moved to Spokane sometime after he was released in 2020 from federal prison in Arizona, 10 years after he fatally shot his father inside their Mesa home during an argument about doing the dishes.

The son, then 21, was charged with first-degree murder, and pleaded guilty to manslaughter two years later. He was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment, with credit for time already served in jail, according to Maricopa County Superior Court records.

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