A local fire chief says his department is trying to heal after the loss of one of its own.

Jacob Hammond, 21, died in a motorcycle crash on Bannister Road in Forsyth County early Thursday. Investigators say he lost control on a curve just after 1 a.m.

"It's the call you never want to get," Sandy Springs Fire Chief Keith Sanders said.

He says his department lost a hero.

"We'll wipe the tears. We'll have a lot more. But we're a family that's going to stick together -- through the good, through the bad," Sanders said.

Hammond, who joined the department 2 1/2 years ago when he was 18, was one of Sanders' first hires. During our interview Friday, Sanders wore a black bar across his badge.

"He was so willing to do whatever it took. I'm telling you, I don't care which team he worked with, he gelled," Sanders said.