Wayne Woodbury was always ready to help.
Woodbury, who died Sunday at the age of 76, served with Searsmont’s fire department his entire adult life, helping his fellow townspeople and providing a steady presence at emergency scenes.
Woodbury was among a dozen firefighters and Robbins Lumber mill workers who were in harm’s way on May 15 when a silo at the mill exploded after a fire spread from part of the mill where woodchips are bagged.
Another firefighter — Andrew Cross, 27, of Morrill — died in the initial blast that sent the silo shooting up into the air before it crashed back down to the ground in a ball of flame that engulfed people and vehicles fighting the blaze. Others who were at the scene, including three members of the Robbins family, remain hospitalized.
“We need more people like that,” Searsmont resident Matt Gerrish said of Woodbury. Gerrish went to school with Woodbury, previously served with him on the fire department, and was his coworker at Bath Iron Works for years.
“Wayne was a good person, well-liked by everybody,” he said.
Sitting along the road in Searsmont where Woodbury’s body would soon be brought through en route to Riposta Funeral Home in Belfast on Monday, Gerrish and friend Shaun Bailey remembered him as a funny, helpful man who was a friend to everyone.
“He was always helping,” Bailey said.
Woodbury was brought to Belfast to a waiting crowd in a procession from Maine Medical Center in Portland, passing through Searsmont, where the streets were also lined with people and the fire department’s flag flew at half mast.
Earlier Monday, another firefighter returned home healthy — Jacob Spaulding, of Montville, who was discharged, walked out of the same Portland hospital and was met with roadside supporters on his way home, too.
Another firefighter injured in the blast — Katherine Paige of fire departments in Northport and Belmont — remains hospitalized in Portland but is slowly improving, according to information posted on Facebook by her husband, fellow firefighter Paul Paige .
The firefighters and mill workers were injured May 15 when dust inside the silo rapidly caught fire and caused the silo to explode before its fire-suppression system could activate.
The family-owned mill — one of few employers left in Maine that have long been the major focal point in their town’s economy — resumed operations May 26, after state and federal officials finished their on-scene investigation. The mill has operated in Searsmont for almost 150 years, primarily producing eastern white pine products.
One of three members of the Searmont fire department who were injured, Woodbury joined the fire service at age 14, Liberty Fire and Rescue said on Facebook, meaning he spent more than six decades fighting fires.
Elise Brown, of Liberty, met him in the 1990s when she joined her town’s fire department, which has a mutual aid agreement with Searsmont. She was one of the few female firefighters then, at a time with some culture clash between new and longtime department members.
But Woodbury was always friendly and encouraging, welcoming her with a big smile, she said. On fire scenes, he had a steady hand; people respected him for being practical and level-headed. She, too, remembers him as a good, decent person.
Vern Thompson, Stockton Springs’ fire chief, said Woodbury was a great guy, down to earth and a real firefighter, who no one would have anything bad to say about.
Some first responders and residents who lined roads for Woodbury’s procession Monday didn’t know him well, but said they showed up to support their close-knit community.
Chuck and Nancy Weser came to pay tribute to Woodbury, they said from their car in Searsmont, which they had parked along Old New England Road hours before. Small Maine towns come together to help each other, the Wesers said; Bailey and Gerrish said the same, also highlighting the mill’s major role in the life of the town.
“Nobody in this town goes cold in the wintertime or goes hungry,” Chuck Weser said. “There’s always somebody [there] to help.”
