A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officer from Oregon is believed to have died while helping people flee a devastating wildfire in Oklahoma on Saturday, officials say.
David Taylor, 38, of Scio, Oregon, was going door to door to help people escape the Railroad fire in Comanche County, Oklahoma, when the flames and smoke overtook him, the U.S. Department of the Interior said in a statement Sunday.
A Navy officer who served in five deployments over 20 years — including in Iraq and Djibouti — Taylor worked as a federal wildlife officer when he wasn’t deployed as a senior chief petty officer in the Navy Reserve, officials said. Officials added that he served as an active-duty Navy sailor prior to shifting into the reserves.
His work in the federal service took him to landscapes hundreds of miles away from his home state of Oregon, with stints at Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge and Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico, officials said.
He eventually transferred to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma, which put him directly in the path of the fast-growing Railroad fire that started Saturday, officials said. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
Officials said that dispatchers’ last contact with him was while he was trying to help a resident escape a home in the fire’s path, and investigators believe he died working to save them. His death has not yet been confirmed by the medical examiner; officials said they will release more information when it is.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik said that Taylor demonstrated “extraordinary courage and selflessness” in his final moments.
“When people were in danger, David was there helping them get to safety,” Nesvik said. “He remained committed to protecting others under the most dangerous circumstances.”
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