05/18/2026
He had already made it inside the fire perimeter when everything changed.
Andrew Cross was 27 years old and a volunteer firefighter with the Morrill Fire Department in Maine, a small town of fewer than 1,000 people where neighbors know each other by name and show up when someone needs help. That is exactly what Andrew did on the morning of May 15, 2026, when the call came through that Robbins Lumber in nearby Searsmont was burning.
Dozens of departments responded to what officials described as a massive, chaotic scene with multiple buildings engulfed and fire trucks destroyed by the intensity of the flames. Firefighters were actively working the fire when a dust silo on the property exploded. Andrew was found at the scene. He did not survive. Several other firefighters suffered serious burns when their equipment caught on fire in the blast. At least 11 people in total were injured, with multiple individuals transported in critical condition to Maine Medical Center in Portland and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
On Saturday morning, Maine State Police assisted with an honorable transfer, escorting Andrew's remains 46 miles from the medical examiner's office in Augusta through Morrill and on to a funeral home in Belfast. Dozens of fire trucks, police cars, and community members lined the route. A memorial of flowers appeared outside the Morrill Volunteer Fire Department. People stood along the road and saluted as the procession passed.
A colleague of Senator Susan Collins who had known Andrew since childhood described him as a kindhearted, hardworking man who loved his community, his family, and his dog.
He was a volunteer. He did not have to go. He went anyway.
What do you think the families of volunteer firefighters carry that most people never stop to think about?