CUMBERLAND — When Boyce Rogers visited the Queen City for the first time in the autumn of 1969, he liked it so much that he decided to make it his home.

“I came to visit my sister. I liked the area, the mountains and how pretty it was, and it was a friendly place,” said the Durham Drive resident as he recalled the circumstances that led to a 39-year, seven-month career with the Cumberland Fire Department that will officially conclude Jan. 1.

The Paducah, Ky., native and son of the late Fleetwood and Virginia (Coles) Rogers left Reidland High School as a junior in 1962 to join the U.S. Navy.

In four years of military service that included two tours of duty in Vietnam, Rogers served aboard the USS Ticonderoga and the USS Coral Sea. His service honors included Navy Unit Citation for flight operations for 60 consecutive days off the coast of Vietnam. “I left Hawaii in January and didn’t see land until late March,” he said.

Upon his return to civilian life, Rogers kicked around in Paducah for a couple of years prior to his first visit to Cumberland, where he soon found steady employment.

“I applied to the fire department, took the test and got hired by Chief Robert C. Long,” said Rogers of his public service career that began in May 1970.

Following several years of service as firefighter and equipment operator, Rogers was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 1990 and to captain four years later. Rogers assumed duties as the city fire inspector and fire marshal in March 1999 with the rank of deputy chief.

Rogers recalled his first major fire. “Mine was the Allegany Inn on Baltimore Avenue in April 1972. There were three fatalities and the fire destroyed the three-story building. I was on the first engine, and the second and third floors were fully involved in fire. There were several rescues, including a man we rescued from a third-floor balcony. We used the ladder truck to get him down.”

Rogers said the cause of the fire was not officially determined but it was suspicious.

As for his first major investigation, Rogers recalled the Aug. 30, 1998, fire that heavily damaged 508 Washington St. Rogers ruled the fire arson. The owner of the property was charged and acquitted in an eight-day trial in Allegany County Circuit Court.

For the past few years, Rogers has been involved in the planning of the ultramodern, seven-story, $270-million Western Maryland Regional Medical Center on Willowbrook Road that opened this weekend.

“A fire official does not get the opportunity to participate in construction of a new hospital. I represented the city in life safety matters and worked with the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office’s fire protection engineer. There were also other buildings involved, including the six-story medical building, the four-story parking garage and remodeling of three other buildings.

“It’s a proud and rewarding feeling to have been part of this process. The new regional health center is an excellent facility, well thought-out, state-of-the-art. The three-state region of Cumberland is most fortunate to have a facility this high-tech right here in the city of Cumberland,” said Rogers, who served under the leadership of current Chief Bill Herbaugh and previous Chief Russell Livengood in addition to Long.

After having conducted thousands of fire inspections and more than a thousand fire investigations, Rogers said being a city firefighter and “working for the citizens and city of Cumberland has been a great career and very enjoyable.

“You get to know the people and the city more so than most people by your service as a firefighter and by the nature of your job. I will miss the working relationships I have enjoyed with the men and women of the department and other city departments. The city has been a good employer.”

Rogers said the Cumberland Fire Department is “on par with every fire department throughout the state and the nation — it is well-trained and well-equipped.” He believes economic considerations will pose challenges to the department in the future as it continues to conform to required standards and provide equipment for the firefighting mission.

Rogers and his wife, the former Jakki Hatter of Short Gap, W.Va., who is a medical technologist with the Western Maryland Health System, have made no specific plans for the future. Rogers said he had planned to retire in June 2010 but he moved the date up by six months in response to a retirement offer from the city.

Rogers will be succeeded in his office by Lt. Shannon Adams, who also serves as the city fire department’s training officer.

Herbaugh said, “Boyce has been a very dedicated and loyal employee. I’ve worked with him since he has been on the department and we have been friends since then. Throughout his career, Boyce has contributed to the success of this department. He is well-respected across the state by virtue of his public service and professionalism.”

Contact Jeffrey Alderton at jlalderton@times-news.com.