A man already facing federal charges for allegedly setting off pipe bombs in Washtenaw and Livingston counties is now charged locally with setting a Milan home ablaze last year.

Christopher Bandy, 32, faces two counts of arson of a dwelling and two counts of arson of insured property, court records indicate. The warrant for his arrest culminates a five-month joint investigation by Milan police and agents with the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) into an April 24 house fire just east of downtown.

The house at 125 Hack St. in Milan remains partially boarded up and condemned nearly a year after a fire gutted the residence.

Art Aisner | For AnnArbor.com

No one was injured in the blaze. At first, fire investigators nearly classified it as an electrical malfunction before federal agents built a case against Bandy.

Described in police reports as a serial pipe bomber, the South Lyon resident is currently in federal custody awaiting a March 23 trial on charges stemming from four bombings outside residences in Whitmore Lake and Howell. No one was hurt in any of the incidents, even though many of the homes were occupied at the time of the bombings, according to a federal indictment unsealed in July.

Authorities had not scheduled Bandy’s arraignment on the new charges, as of Friday.

Tifany Mapes, Bandy’s girlfriend, is also charged in a warrant with two counts of arson in a dwelling, arson of insured property and a single count of insurance fraud in the April fire at 125 Hack St.

The late night fire gutted the two-story home and required multiple fire departments to extinguish. Damage was estimated at $100,000.

Mapes, 20, was in Howell at the time of the fire and returned home with her dogs after being notified by authorities, reports said.

Milan Police Chief Jeff Lewis said investigators were initially satisfied with a fire marshal’s ruling that the fire was related to recent work done by an electrician.

But the case remained open and became a criminal investigation in the fall when ATF agents said Bandy, by that time facing federal indictment, said he set the blaze at Mapes’ request, police reports said.

It's unclear whether Bandy allegedly used a pipe bomb to spark the fire, and officials with the ATF office in Detroit did not return calls Friday.

In January, Milan Police Officer Ryan Schoch and ATF Special Agent Ted Crews brought the case to Washtenaw County prosecutors, who requested a further interview with Mapes.

A notice indicates the Milan home is condemned.

Art Aisner | For AnnArbor.com

A police report details a contentious interview they conducted with Mapes at her office at the University of Michigan Orthopedics center. The investigators confronted Mapes with their evidence, including statements by Bandy that implicated them both, and she became enraged, according to reports. 

Mapes left a conference room proclaiming her innocence and screaming profanity at the officers so loudly that several co-workers had to shut doors to their offices and patient rooms, reports said.

Mapes, who now lives in Dundee, declined to give investigators another statement two days later and said she hired an attorney, reports said. No attorney is listed on court records.

Art Aisner is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 723-623-2530.