ELBA, N.Y. — Some phone calls are impossible to forget, such as the one first responders from and near the Town of Elba got on Tuesday.
"It was a tough one," Allegany County Undersheriff Scott Cicirello said.
Added Steve Baxter, a retired Mercy Flight paramedic: "We're trained to go and do our jobs, and then when we come back, we compartmentalize the bad things."
That got even harder when they found out one of their own -- 60-year-old James Sauer of Churchville -- was gone in an instant.
Sauer, a retired New York State Police officer, and former National Guard-turned-Mercy Flight pilot, was killed in a training exercise on Tuesday, along with 60-year-old Bell Helicopter instructor Stewart Dietrick of Prosper, Texas.
Now an entire community of first responders needs time to process it all.
"We all have to grieve. You just have to, but you don't have to do it alone, and as you can see by everybody here, we're not doing it alone," Baxter said.
Cicirello says Sauer had characteristics proving he was doing the job meant for him.
"I was very impressed with his knowledge. I was very impressed with his passion for flying. It was very clear to me that he really loved what he did," Cicirello said.
He did a job critical to our rural neighbors needing emergency care.
"They've been in this landing zone hundreds of times," said Shaun Taylor, Allegany County Deputy fire coordinator. "They've saved a lot of lives."
Sauer and Dietrick will be impossible to forget.
"To Jim, I know he's listening right now. And Stewart, we'll remember you both as heroes," Cicirello said.
Added Baxter: "We'll miss Jim, we'll miss Stewart. We'll get through it with everybody's help."
Months could go by before investigators are able to determine the cause of the crash.
According to officials, the helicopter was at about 2,000 feet in the air when something went wrong and the tail rotor came off.
We still don't know what actually caused the Bell 429 helicopter to crash. Months could go by before investigators are able to determine that.
Sauer's funeral is on Monday at 1 p.m. over at the Open Door Baptist Church in Churchville.
All departments are welcome to attend, you are asked to RSVP by texting Thomas Labelle at 716-444-9266.