SWAIT Reno 2026
February 10-12, 2026
Where:
Public Safety Training Center
Reno, NV
An On Demand/Virtual option will be available again this year.
The SWAIT Team is busy working on the SWAIT Reno 2026 line up. The dates and location have been set. Registration will begin around the 1st of November 2025. As we confirm our speakers, we will begin building the schedule. See below for updates. Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on the training.
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Is your agency looking for specialty training in wildland arson? Contact us for your wildland arson training needs.
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Synopsis:
We are hard at work recruiting speakers for SWAIT Reno 2026. Check for updates and for information on the training in the next couple months.
Real world Serial/Wildland Arson Investigation Training is hard to come by! Networking opportunities abound at this high-caliber training event. We invite you to join us in Reno and encourage you to bring your colleagues along for this invaluable experience.
Make sure to sign up for the newsletter for additional training updates and keep an eye on the website for additional information on SWAIT Reno 2025.
Schedule
Day 1
Tuesday Feb 10, 2026
0745-0800 Check-in
0800 - 0815 Opening Remarks
Nordskog/Taylor/Fischer
0815-1200 First on Scene - Training That Makes or Breaks Cases - Drones (UAS) and other Investigative Tools
Randy Anglin
1315-1600 Eric Smith: Shasta Lake Serial Wildland Arsonist
Tyler Bolen
Day 2
Wednesday Feb 11, 2026
0800-1000 Leveraging Technology in Wildland Investigations
Hannah Nadeau
1000-1200 When It’s One of Our Own! Serial Arson Case Study
Patrick Blake
1315-1500 The Challenges of Investigation a Large Origin: The Zogg Fire
Darren Stewart
Day 3
Thursday Feb 12, 2026
0800-1200 TBD
1315-1500 TBD
1500-1530 TBD
1530 - 1700 TBD
We reserve the right to change the schedule due to unforeseen circumstances and last minute cancellations from our speakers. The speaker or the agency/company they work for are responsible for the content of their presentations. Opinions expressed by the speakers do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of INVF Consultants and the Serial Wildland Arson Investigation Training. See Terms and Conditions for additional details.
Hannah Nadeau
US Forest Service
Contact: hannah.s.nadeau@usda.gov
Hannah is a Special Agent with the US Forest Service. She has been investigating wildland fires for nearly 10 years and has been part of investigations on multiple large Rocky Mountain region fires including the Marshall and Cameron Peak Fires in Colorado and the Mullen and Elk Fires in Wyoming. She is stationed in Laramie, WY where she also worked as a uniformed officer for the Forest Service for six years before becoming a Special Agent.
Class Topic: Leveraging Technology in Wildland Investigations
Class Synopsis: This class will go in depth into the investigation of the Sugarloaf Fire in Wyoming. After the origin and cause investigation was completed, multiple investigative techniques including search warrants for digital data were utilized, allowing the investigator to identify and charge the suspects.
Tyler Bolen
US Forest Service
Contact: tyler.bolen@usda.gov
After separating from the Army in 2010, Tyler began his law enforcement career as a uniformed officer with the Forest Service in northern Arizona. In 2016, Tyler returned home to Redding, CA and was promoted to Special Agent in 2018. Since then, Tyler has continued his work as a Forest Service agent, investigating cases on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest and adjacent forests throughout Northern CA. Most of Tyler's investigations have been associated with fire/arson, marijuana cultivation on forest lands, and property crimes. Tyler has investigated hundreds of wildland fires and been the lead agent on numerous serial wildland fire cases and authored over 100 search warrants, both state and federal warrants, during the course of his investigations. Tyler is a passionate public land user, loves to hunt, and spends his personal time in the same mountains where he works.
Class Topic: Eric Smith: Shasta Lake Serial Wildland Arsonist
Class Synopsis: This case followed numerous unsolved fires around the Shasta Lake area in Northern CA until the eventual identification of the target of the investigation, Eric Smith. The investigation incorporated the use of remote cameras, vehicle trackers, and surveillance. The presentation will discuss search warrants and obtained evidence, such as: Google Reverse Locations ("geofence"), vehicle tracker, cell phone pings, residence, vehicle, social media, and Google accounts. Following the arrest, a 3-hour interview with Smith eventually led to his confession. The case was federally charged (sentenced to 3 years) however Smith was then charged for PC 451 for another wildland arson he set that burned about 10 homes down—the state case came after the federal case and that's another portion of this presentation.
Randy Anglin
Lionstrike, LLC
Contact: randy@lionstrike.com (602) 696-0161
Anglin retired from the Arizona Department of Public Safety in 2005 following a serious injury and now brings his skills to the private sector through his company, Lionstrike, LLC. As the Chief Investigator of this private investigative service, he has grown and refined his investigative skills while providing accurate and detailed documentation. Randy has carried over many “Tried and True” techniques from government service but also embraces cutting edge technology from the private and corporate sectors. Besides General Investigations, his specialties include: Accident/Crime Scene Reconstructions, Forensic Photography, Surveillance/Technical Surveillance, and Forensic Tracking, among others. He has embraced the concept, “You cannot connect the dots, until you collect the dots”.
Class Topic: First on Scene - Training That Makes or Breaks Cases - Drones (UAS) and other Investigative Tools
Class Synopsis: Every day cases are won or lost in the first few moments on scene. What you see, hear, and do before the crime scene tape goes up, can decide the outcome in court. From footprints in snow that vanish in minutes; to witness accounts of vehicles gone before responders arrive, fleeting details are often with the difference between success and failure. This program equips field investigators to:
1. Recognize and preserve short-lived evidence.
2. Avoid common pitfalls that destroy credibility in court
3. Apply Locard’s Exchange Principal and Ockham’s Razor in real time.
4. Learn from powerful case studies: when good first actions, won cases and when failures lost them
Join us for this immersive four-hour training and see why “the scene only speaks once”
Patrik Blake
OK Dept of Agriculture Food and Forestry
Contact: Patrick.blake@ag.ok.gov
Patrick is a Special Agent with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry Investigative Services Unit. He has served in this capacity the last 21 years of his 31-year law enforcement career. His duties include investigating and preparing criminal cases concerning violations of the Oklahoma Agriculture Code, which includes wildland fire investigations. He has worked hundreds of wildfire scenes and has been directly involved with the investigation, apprehension and prosecution of 10 serial arsonist in Oklahoma.
Class Topic: When It’s One of Our Own! Serial Arson Case Study
Class Synopsis: A case study of a serial arsonist disguised as a veteran firefighter. Mike Malenski, a well-liked member of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Food and Forestry’s Division of Forestry. Mike was initially charged with 112 felony counts of arson related crimes. He was subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to 2 felony counts.
Darren Stewart
CAL Fire
Contact:
Darren is currently a Battalion Chief / Peace Officer with the California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE). He is currently assigned to the Northern Region Law Enforcement / Cost Recovery Unit out of Redding California. Prior to this assignment Darren served as a Law Enforcement / Fire Prevention Bureau Chief in Siskiyou County for two years. Prior to being a bureau chief, Darren was a Fire Captain Specialist / Peace Officer for 17 years which included duty assignments in the bay area and Shasta-Trinity Unit. Darren started his law enforcement career as an officer with the California Highway Patrol. Prior to CHP, Darren was a firefighter and Fire Apparatus Engineer with CAL FIRE. Darren has investigated over 5000 wildland, structure, vehicle and watercraft fires to include large acreage and damaging wildland fires. Darren has been the case officer / assisting officer with large damaging fires to include the Tubbs Fire (Napa, Sonoma Counties, 2017), Carr Fire (Shasta County, 2018) and Zogg Fire (Shasta County, 2020).
Class Topic: The Challenges of Investigating a Large Origin: The Zogg Fire
Class Synopsis: Darren will take us on a deep dive into the Zogg Fire to discuss the challenges with finding a large origin area. The Zogg fire was a power line fire in 2020 that burned in Shasta County, CA. The fire burning 56,338 acres, destroyed 204 structures, and damaged 27 structures. In addition, the Zogg Fire caused four fatalities and one injury. While not arson, there are many lessons learned from this fire that would apply to a criminal investigation.