OREGON – First Responders from across northern Illinois paid tribute Friday morning to the three members of a REACT crew who died Monday when their helicopter crashed during a flight to pick up a patient.

Firefighters and EMS personnel from at least 30 area departments, along with police from several departments, escorted the three hearses in a procession from Oregon to Rockford. They carried the remains of helicopter pilot Andrew Oleson, 65, Rockford, and flight nurses Jim Dillow, 40, Shannon, and Karen Hollis, 48, Rockford,

Stillman Valley Fire Chief Chad Hoefle, who organized the procession, said it was a way for the three to complete their mission. He spoke as the procession prepared to leave the Ogle County morgue in Oregon en route to the REACT hangar in Rockford.