(WENY) -- A handful of firefighters based in the Southern Tier will be traveling up to Buffalo on Friday to represent their departments in paying final respects to fallen firefighter Jason Arno of the Buffalo Fire Department. The 37-year-old lost his life while fighting a fire on March 1st.  

“This is something that happened very close to us, and we wanted to be there to show support for Firefighter Arno, the Buffalo Fire Department, and his family.” Lieutenant Nick Raponi from the Ithaca Fire Department said.  

The Ithaca Fire Department is sending three fire officers and two recruits from the New York State Academy of Fire Science to Buffalo Friday to pay their respects to Arno. Raponi says the fire service as a whole is a tight-knit community, and he and others from his department felt the need to show support.  

“We do the same job, just in different locations. So, when something tragic like this happens, it's something that hits close to home,” Lt. Raponi said, adding, “Being able to show support from such a short distance away was something very important to us.”  

Raponi explained how this situation is an example of how dangerous their job is and the extreme risk that comes with it. He said what happened to Arno could happen to him or any of his fellow firefighters while doing their jobs, and that's something they take seriously.  

“It takes a certain person to want to do this job, to begin with.” Lt. Raponi said, adding, “Unfortunately, we pay the ultimate sacrifice sometimes for doing the hard work, day in and day out.”  

Lieutenant Raponi encourages everyone to support their local firefighters and to thank them for the hard work they do. People can support Firefighter's Arno family by donating to GoFundMe fundraisers set up by Delton Arno and Courtney Englert. The totals from both fundraisers will be combined when both funds close.  

People can access Delton or Courtney’s fund by clicking on their name in this article.