Bio - Detective Ed Nordskog is a full time arson/bomb investigator for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Since 1997 he has investigated over 1,800 arson cases, over 50 fire death scenes, and been personally involved in 40 serial arson investigations. He is a former IAAI “Investigator of the Year” and IASIU “Law Enforcement Officer of the Year” for his work in the arson investigation field. He is an active instructor for the State of California POST in the subjects of “Arson and Explosion Investigation” and “Homicide Investigation-Fire Deaths”. He has a Master’s Degree from Cal State University-Long Beach and is the author of the books "Torchered Minds-Case Histories of Notorious Serial Arsonists" and "Fireraisers, Freaks and Fiends-Obsessive Arsonists in the California Foothills."

Class - Detectice Nordskog will present a class on how to analyze, evaluate, document, and investigate a serial arsonist. You will learn about the “sophistication” of the attacks, with the intent of identifying potential suspects. Topics include; exploiting all forensic evidence, pattern analysis, use of all investigative resources, analyzing access modes, target selection, transportation, and ignition scenarios. Common traits of wildland serial arsonists will be featured.

Bio - Senior Investigator Ken Ness has spent 36 years with the Saskatchewan (Canada) Ministry of Environment, with most of his career specializing in resource law enforcement. He is presently a Senior Investigator with the Investigations Unit. In 2001 he was appointed to the Certified Wildland Fire Investigation Team, based in the USA, as one of two Canadian representatives. The mandate of this group is to develop wildfire investigation training that is standard throughout North America. Ken is presently co-chair of the Canadian Wildfire Investigation Working Team. He has provided wildfire investigation training and presentations throughout Canada, and in the USA and Australia. Ken instructs interview & interrogation techniques in Canada and the USA. He writes a regular column in the Western Canadian Game Warden magazine, titled "You & the Law".

Class - Senior Investigator Ness will present an overview of the Canadian wildland arson problem, investigative strategies, and will highlight several case histories to include the First Nation fires.

Bio - John N. Maclean is an award winning author specializing in detailed stories of major wildland fire catastrophes. Mr. Maclean started his literary career as a police reporter in Chicago in 1964. He then worked as a writer, editor and reporter for the Chicago Tribune for thirty years. In the wake of the deadly Storm King Mountain Fire of 1994, John left his newspaper career to focus on highly detailed books about wildland fires and wildland firefighters.

Books by John N. Maclean

• Fire on the Mountain: the True Story of the South Canyon Fire
• Fire and Ashes: On the Front Lines of American Wildfire
• The Thirtymile Fire: A Chronicle of Bravery and Betrayal
• The Esperanza Fire: Arson, Murder and the Agony of Engine 57
• http://JohnMacleanBooks.com

Class - Mr. Maclean will present an analysis of the 2006 Esperanza Fire, set by a serial wild land arsonist, which took the lives of five wildland firefighters. This talk will focus on the fire, the investigation and the trial which sent Raymond Oyler to California’s death row.

Bio - Investigator Richard Woods is the Operations Manager for the Australian Capital Territory Rural Fire Service in Canberra. He also manages a private Wildfire Investigation company in Australia providing specialist advice on wildfire cause to domestic and international clients.

Richard commenced his interest in wildfires as a volunteer with the New South Wales (NSW) Rural Fire Service in 1976, was a Police Officer for over 9 years and later worked in frontline management for the NSW and ACT Rural Fire Services in south-east Australia over a 24 year period. Notably he established the Fire Investigation Capability at the NSW Rural Fire Service and managed that role for 9 years, working to establish co-operative standards with law enforcement and fire management partners. He was instrumental in managing the investigation of significant wildfire disasters in NSW in 2001-2003 as part of a specialist strike force established to investigate these incidents.

In 2010 he was seconded to the Australian Federal Attorney Generals Department to develop a National Bushfire Arson Prevention arrangement.

Mr. Woods completed a Graduate Certificate and Diploma in Fire Investigation through Charles Sturt University along with a Graduate Certificate in Applied Management at the Australian Institute of Police Management. He has delivered wildfire investigation training to a number of agencies in South Korea, China and The Netherlands.

Additionally, Richard is the current Chair of the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI), Wildland Arson Committee; Australian representative on the North American based NWCG Wildland Fire Investigation Team and is a former President of the NSW Chapter (47) of the International Association of Arson Investigators.

In 2013, he was awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal for his commitment to fire services in Australia, in particular wildfire investigation.

Class - Inv. Woods will present a case study of the deadly Victoria Black Saturday Bushfires of 2009, which claimed the lives of 172 persons. He will also describe the arson investigation process in Australia and will illustrate the efforts of the National Committee for the Prevention of Wildfire Arson.

Bio - Sergeant Josh Chappell, works for the Utah County Sheriff's Office in Spanish Fork, Utah, and has been a law enforcement officer for more than 13 years. As a detective he investigated multiple homicides, officer involved shootings, and multiple arson cases.

Class - In 2008 Sergeant Chappell began investigating a series of wildland fires that were determined to be arson. After a two year investigation he arrested two women - Ashley Hair and Alex Howell for these series of arsons. They subsequently admitted to starting more than 50 wildland fires throughout Utah County. This class will shed light on female arsonists; their methods and motives.

Bio - Senior Special Agent Paul Steensland is a retired investigator/agent for the United States Forest Service, Law Enforcement and Investigations unit. SA Steensland has over 45 years of combined fire/law enforcement experience with Calfire, the U.S. Forest Service and in private practice. He has investigated hundreds of wildland fires, including two of the largest fires in the history of South Dakota and Colorado. He has been recognized as an expert witness in state and federal courts.

Prior to retirement in 2005, he was the Senior Special Agent/National Fire Investigation Specialist for the U.S. Forest Service, Law Enforcement and Investigations Branch. Steensland is the past chair and a current member of the NWCG’s Wildfire Investigation Working Team, which is developing an international training program for wildland fire investigators. He was a principal member of the NFPA’s technical committee on Professional Qualifications for Fire Investigators, (NFPA 1033), is a member of the IAAI Wildland Arson Subcommittee and is a member of the NFPA 921 Chapter 26 revision sub-committee. He is currently the owner/president of a private wildland fire investigation forensic consulting and training firm, Paul Steensland and Associates, LLC.

SA Steensland has instructed investigators from over 40 states, as well as presenting numerous courses in Australia, Canada, Bulgaria, Greece, Guam, and the Netherlands.

Class - SA Steensland will present several case histories of high profile wildland arson investigations and prosecutions in the United States’ National Forests.

He can be reached at: paulsteensland@gmail.com

Bio - Deputy District Attorney Michael Cabral was the lead prosecutor on the John Orr Serial Arson-Murder case. He has been a prosecutor for over 25 years. He was a Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles County for 20 years where he started the Arson Prosecutions Unit. It was during this time he led the final Orr prosecution. His exhaustive and tenacious work on the Orr case is well chronicled in Joseph Wambaugh’s book, “Fire Lover”. From 2006 to 2010 Mike was Chief DDA in Riverside County in the Family Protection Division, leading the prosecution of the crimes of Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, and Sexual Assault. In 2010 Mike moved to northern California and joined the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office as Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney.

Class - DDA Cabral will present his very unique and personal insight to the most infamous serial arsonist ever identified, Glendale Fire Captain, Arson Investigator John Orr. Orr was both an urban and wildland serial arsonist and one of his last acts of arson was the College Hills fire of 1990, a major brush fire which destroyed 63 homes. He also murdered four persons by arson and is currently in prison for life without parole.

Bio - Special Agent McAuliffe has served as a criminal investigator with the United States Forest Service since 2004, holding positions at the field, regional and national levels. He is currently stationed at the Minnesota Resident Agent Field Office. He has over 26 years of combined service working for three different federal law enforcement agencies at multiple posts around the country.

Special Agent McAuliffe has been involved with several high profile arson investigations during this timeframe. In the early 2000’s he served on a national multi-agency task force investigating a series of arsons, fire bombings and vandalisms which were being conducted by the radical eco-terrorism group known as the Earth Liberation Front. In 2007 he was the lead investigator for the Ham Lake wildland fire arson investigation which burned over 76,000 acres in Northern Minnesota and Canada. In 2013 he was a co-case Agent for the Rim Fire in the Sierra Nevada region which was the third largest wildfire in California’s history.

Class - Chief Inv. Iammatteo and Special Agent McAuliffe will co-present their three year investigation into a series of wildland and other fires in an around the town of Babbitt, Minnesota. The arrest and prosecution of the local fire chief for these fires made national news headlines in 2013.