Rogers and four fellow firefighters were involved in the heroic rescue Tuesday of a woman whose car overturned and caught fire near the Beaver exit on Interstate 64 just east of Beckley.
Another 30 seconds and there would have been no rescue.
Cheryl Muovich, a Beckley optician, was taken to a Pittsburgh burn center for treatment of second- and third-degree burns on to her back, head and leg.
Several Seattle firefighters are undergoing training at the Center for National Response - operated at the former Memorial Tunnel on the West Virginia Turnpike - in anticipation of a tunnel to be built in Seattle.
Training involves mass vehicle accidents, hazardous materials, weapons of mass destruction and urban search and rescue in a tunnel environment.
"We spent the whole day (Tuesday) doing two multiple car wrecks in the tunnel," Rogers said, describing a process involving 10 to 15 cars, gasoline trucks, buses, cargo trucks.
"We're testing out these long-duration, self-contained breathing apparatus, where crews have to come in and triage the victims, begin an exit plan and an extrication plan where we can start bringing people out effectively."
Then there is the worst-case scenario of someone trapped in a vehicle, requiring cutting the roof and moving other cars away. After a day of training, Rogers and his four colleagues were cram-med into a small rental car, heading "home" to their hotel. As they approached the Beaver exit, they started seeing the smoke.
"A quarter of a mile away, we could see it was a pretty heavily involved car fire, so we thought, ah, no big deal, we've been to these hundreds of times in our cities," Rogers said.
But almost immediately, every man in the car noticed something else.
"None of us said anything," Rogers recalled. "But we knew there was somebody in there (in the burning car). We could tell by the surrounding people, their excitement."
With that realization, the firemen jumped out of their car and ran to the scene.
"Todd (Rademacher) got there first because he's the fastest. So we were all just supporting him," Rogers said.
"To begin with, I was amazed that someone was actually in the car," Rademacher said. "But you see somebody and you kind of reach in."
The car was on its side and Rademacher approached it from the front, asking fireman Tony Bennett for a knife in case the victim was still strapped in with a seatbelt.
Rogers said a couple of people with fire extinguishers were trying to battle the fire from the rear of the car, but the result was that the fire was being pushed forward, forcing Rademacher to back away.
Some of the Seattle firemen got the extinguishers and brought them to the front of the vehicle in an effort to drive the flames away from Rademacher and the victim.
"That worked for about five seconds because that was all that was left in them," Rogers said.
The woman was unconscious. On his first attempt to reach her, Rademacher couldn't make contact.
"I missed her the first time because I couldn't get in far enough," he said. "And then they backed the fire off me from the front. That gave me a good picture. I could really see her well. I just started yelling at her and she opened her eyes."
Rademacher yelled to the woman to reach her hands up to him.
"She was on fire, her hair was on fire at the time, the seat right behind her was on fire," Rogers said.
Rademacher got hold of her and pulled her up to a point that allowed the other firemen also to grab hold and pull her out.
While most of the Seattle firefighters went into what Rogers called their "EMS mode," Ed Nelson went to help a two-man engine truck from the Beaver Fire Department, borrowing a helmet and coat to help put out the fire. That was an irony Rogers noted.
"All our equipment, all the fancy gizmos we carry normally on a rescue company, and on the way home (to the hotel) we've got nothing but a pair of coveralls. It was a little humbling."
Rogers noted that although car fires are something routine for "big city" fire companies, there was a lot of luck involved in Tuesday's rescue, particularly their being in the right place at the right time.
After a paramedic unit took over and started running IVs on the victim, the Seattle crew jumped back in the small rental car and headed back to the hotel, not feeling particularly heroic.
Bennett expressed concern some people would use the fire as a reason not to wear a seatbelt.
"Accidents happen all the time and it's very rare for cars to catch fire or be submerged, so it doesn't excuse anyone from wearing a seatbelt," Bennett cautioned.
Nelson said he didn't want to forget local emergency personnel who came to the scene.
"They all did their job exactly as they're supposed to do it, and that two-man engine company that showed up and put that fire out did a heck of a job," Nelson said. "We just got there first."
But mostly the firemen remain concerned for the victim.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with her, especially," fireman Mike Todd said. "That's the real story here, her recovery - hopefully a short recovery and a good quality of life."
The victim was transported to Raleigh General Hospital for initial treatment, then airlifted to Pittsburgh.
