Christopher James Hansen was arrested in Vancouver on September 16 and is being held on $200,000 bail in a case arising from a September 6 house fire in Vancouver's Parkway East neighborhood. Prosecutors allege Hansen set fire to his ex-girlfriend's home; he faces first-degree arson and residential burglary charges.
The fire was reported at about 7:34 p.m., according to KOIN, which cited charging documents and security footage. Investigators alleged the footage showed a car arriving at about 7 p.m. and leaving roughly 30 minutes later, and that a neighbor saw a man believed to be Hansen park nearby and carry a small red container from the vehicle. The Vancouver Fire Marshal's Office determined the blaze was arson, KOIN reported.
Hansen is being held on $200,000 bail while he awaits an arraignment scheduled for Monday, September 21.
A Relationship That Began at Work, and Ended in Accusations
Hansen and his ex-girlfriend met when she began working at OnTrac, according to KOIN's report on the charging documents, and the two dated for six months. The company operates a 162,000-square-foot regional sorting and distribution center in Vancouver that serves as a hub for Pacific Northwest e-commerce deliveries, per background from SilMan Industries. Investigators say the woman told Hansen in April that she had started seeing someone new.
That same month, Hansen allegedly filed a sexual harassment complaint against her with their shared employer, KOIN reports. He later lost his job, and charging documents allege he told his ex-girlfriend directly that he blamed the sexual harassment claims he had made for costing him his position. The woman, for her part, reportedly left OnTrac partly because of how the company handled the harassment complaint, according to the station's report.
Threats, a Fire, and a Call From the Scene
On September 9, three days after the blaze, Hansen allegedly told his ex-girlfriend that he had ransacked her house and planned to burn it, according to charging documents described by KOIN. He allegedly called her multiple times that day, including while she was speaking with investigators at the fire scene.
A local pastor also told KOIN that Hansen called him on the day of the fire and admitted setting a house on fire. The charges include first-degree arson and residential burglary.
A Pattern Clark County Has Tried to Address
A Pattern Clark County Has Tried to Address Intimate-partner abuse can involve nonphysical coercion and control. The Clark County Sheriff's Office partnered with YWCA Clark County in March 2025 to launch a Domestic Violence High Risk Team. The City of Vancouver and Clark County also maintain a 24-hour crisis line and emergency shelter access through YWCA Clark County for people facing domestic violence or stalking.
What Official Court Records Show
Official court reporting can clarify how protection-order cases are categorized, but it does not establish whether a protection order existed in this case or how common intentionally set residential fires are in Clark County. According to Washington State Courts' 2025 annual report, civil protection-order cases filed since July 1, 2022, are categorized under Chapter 7.105 RCW, including foreign protection orders; older filings may be classified differently.
What Local Fire Records Establish
The official material reviewed here does not provide a multi-year count of residential fires or suspected arson cases in Vancouver or Clark County, so it cannot show whether such incidents are increasing or how this case compares with local trends. The City of Vancouver's Fire Marshal's Office says its responsibilities include fire-safety education, enforcement of fire, building and life-safety codes, and investigation of fire causes, including possible criminal causes.
Hansen's case follows another recent Clark County arson prosecution tied to a personal dispute, including a Vancouver woman's patio blaze charge in March. Open questions remain, including whether a civil protection order existed before the September 6 fire and what OnTrac's internal review of the harassment complaint found; both will likely surface as Hansen's case moves through Clark County Superior Court following Monday's arraignment.
