'I hope to God we rebuild': Business owned by family of slain Aiken officer destroyed by fire
Jenny Johnson, sister of deceased Aiken Department of Public Safety Master Cpl. Sandy Rogers, said when she pulled up to see her family business in flames, she just wanted to call her sister.
After nearly 50 years of business, Jack Rogers Tire Pros off Richland Avenue in Aiken was destroyed early Monday by a fire.
The family received a call at about 2 a.m. Monday letting them know their fire alarm was blaring.
"The fire alarm never goes off," Johnson said Tuesday. "We got there and I started screaming. It was fully engulfed in the front. It was basically just gone when we got there."
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Johnson said because of all of the highly flammable tires inside the shop, the blaze was hard to extinguish.
"Langley [Fire Department] had foam they put on it and they said if they had not gotten the foam ... it probably still would be burning," she said.
Among the rubble were family memories gathered over the last half-century.
"It's just unbelievable," Johnson said. "The only thing still standing was our key box. I had Sandy's pictures in here. We had pictures of my daddy going to some of the big fishing [trips] he's done. I had my great-grandfather's adding machine. [A signed photo of] my daddy and Pete Rose burned. It's all gone."
Johnson said after the fire, her first thought to call her parents and Sandy, but the reality that they had all passed away set in.
Johnson's father, Jack Rogers, started the business on Dec. 1, 1975 with four kids in school and a wife in college. He passed away in 2013, just one year after Sandy was shot and killed in the line of duty.
Sandy Rogers, 48, a 27-year veteran of ADPS, was fatally shot in the head on Jan. 28, 2012, while investigating a suspicious vehicle near Eustis Park.
Joshua Tremaine Jones pleaded guilty but mentally ill in 2014 and was sentenced to life without parole by Judge Jack Early of the 2nd Judicial Circuit, according to previous reporting.
A photo of Sandy was hung across from the front door inside of the business. Johnson said she used to see Sandy's reflection in the window to the parking lot every day.
"It really hurts me," she said about the fire. "This should have never happened. ... I don't think much of it has hit [me yet]. I hadn't even cried until my son said that what hurt him the most was seeing his childhood wishes and dreams go up in smoke, because he wanted the store."
The family spoke with a realtor Monday night about a new location, but said the business's future is uncertain.
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"I hope to God we rebuild. I want to rebuild," Johnson said. "All my life, all I've known is tires, since I was 15 years old. ... The worst part about it is my customers. I feel so bad for my customers because we have some customers who will come in at least once a week and say, 'I'm just so glad you're here.' I feel so bad for them because I don't know where to tell them to go now."
Johnson said she hasn't been able to keep her phone charged with all of the kind messages she has been receiving from the community over the last few days.
"It's wonderful to find out people really cared about us," she said.
While the community has been figuratively wrapping its arms around the Rogers family, Johnson said they have received a few comments that have been upsetting, including accusations that the fire was not an accident or that it was an April Fools' joke.
"There was so much inside other than tires," Johnson said. "They would not say that if they knew us. ... When I read [comments] about it being an April Fools' joke, that absolutely killed me."
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Rogers' family tire business burns down in Aiken
