Firefighter dies in Oregon while fighting wildfire in Josephine County

An Oregon firefighter died Thursday while fighting a wildland fire in Josephine County, state forestry officials said.

The Oregon Department of Forestry and the Bureau of Land Management said Logan Taylor, 25, of Talent, Oregon, was critically injured by a falling tree Thursday while fighting the Rum Creek Fire, which is burning north of Galice.

He was airlifted to Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford where he later died of his injuries.

Taylor was the operator of Sasquatch Reforestation, an Oregon Department of Forestry-contracted firefighting company.

“We are extremely saddened by the passing of Logan Taylor. This loss is deeply felt by our ODF family and throughout the wildland fire community as a whole,” said Tyler McCarty, ODF Southwest Oregon District Forester. “Safety remains our top priority. ODF and our partners are committed to learning from this accident and to doing everything we can to reduce the risk of similar incidents occurring in the future.”

Forestry officials said the death is under investigation.

The death was reported the same day a memorial was held for another firefighter, Collin Hagan, who was also fatally struck by a falling tree just over a week ago while fighting the Big Swamp Fire in the Willamette National Forest.

A firefighter working a wildfire in Jackson County was taken off the line Thursday (Aug. 18) after suffering a heat-related illness, ODF said. They were treated by personnel at the fire’s staging area.

State forestry officials say fireline leadership will be talking about these incidents with teams, “and emphasizing the importance of prioritizing safety in all aspects of firefighting operations.”

“A loss of a firefighter’s life impacts the whole firefighting community, and we send our condolences to the family friends and coworkers,” said Elizabeth Burghard, BLM Medford District Manager. “Safety is the number one priority for the BLM and our wildland firefighting partners. We want every firefighter to come home safely each day.”