Controlling emotions on the front lines

CLARENCE, N.Y. (WIVB) - Firefighters have one of the toughest jobs of all.

They have to control an emergency while they keep their own emotions in control.

News 4 spoke with a firefighters who was on the front lines in Clarence.

"We had a job to do and we wanted to go get it done," said Wayne Michalak, of Newstead Fire Company.

Volunteer Firefighter Wayne Michalak says nothing could've prepared him for a sight like the crash of Flight 3407.

He drove One of the Ambulances for the Town of Newstead to the scene that night. They quickly learned there were no survivors.

"And when you're trained to help somebody, and you can't help 'em," Michalak said.

But like most firefighters he didn't think twice about going back the next day to help more with the recovery efforts.

He shared the photos with us that he took from what he calls ground zero.

Michalak said, "The one set of bodies we found when we forst approached the scene, you could tell they were still in their seats, and it appeared to us that they were in the 'prepare for the inevitable postion' and it's an unbearable sight to have to see."

Even now, it's almost three days after the crash, there is still a perimeter set up keeping the pyblic and the media a few blocks away from the scene. That's why Wayne's pictures bring us all that much closer to what most of us haven't seen.

Like the way the trees are sliced in such a way to almost show the path the plane took on the way down, or the landing gear that sticks out from atop the scene.

"There's been those thoughts 'Why am I doing this, why put myself in this situation, but there's more to life that just living it for yourself. I mean we're all human beings, we're meant to help each other," said Michalak. "Firefighters are human too."