Roger W. Myers

Roger W. Myers helped to save William A. Byrne from burning, Martin, South Dakota, March 10, 2005. During a dust storm with high winds, Byrne and his wife, both 87, were trapped inside their car after an accident in which the car left the roadway, entered a ditch, and caught fire at its rear end. Byrne was rendered unconscious, and his wife was unable to open the passenger door. Myers, 57, carpenter, and a coworker drove upon the scene and stopped. Myers approached the burning car and attempted to open its doors but was unsuccessful. He returned to the men’s vehicle for a fire extinguisher as the coworker removed the window of the car’s passenger door and removed Byrne’s wife. Learning that Byrne was still in the vehicle, Myers and the coworker partially entered the car through its passenger door, despite flames that by then had reached the back-seat area. They grasped Byrne, pulled him through the passenger door, and carried him to safety. Flames shortly engulfed the car’s interior. Byrne and his wife were hospitalized for treatment of their injuries. Myers also received hospital treatment, for minor burns to his arms, and he inhaled smoke and dust. He recovered.