BUCKSTOWN, Pennsylvania — On Saturday morning, Andrew Ryan Cross, a 27-year-old volunteer firefighter in the tiny town of Morrill, Maine, received an honorable transfer, as he made his final call from the Augusta medical examiner’s office to a funeral home in Belfast.
The fire that took Cross’s life was reported to the State Fire Marshall at Robbins Lumber in Searsmont just after 10 a.m. on Friday morning. Crews working to put out the fire in a silo heard a loud explosion, according to WMTW News 8 in Portland, Maine. Cross was found dead at the scene.
The Maine State Fire Marshall’s Office said that multiple fire departments responded to the Waldo County scene. Many of them were volunteer firefighters like Cross, who serve the county, which has a 90% rural population.
By all accounts, Cross was a doer. He played soccer and baseball at Belfast Area High School. He was a member of the National Honor Society, finishing his education with an associate’s degree in Mechanical Technology and a certificate in Heavy Equipment Operation.
Outside of his volunteer work for the local fire department, Cross held multiple jobs. He worked as an outside machinist, owned his own business plowing and mowing for people in his community, and plowed roads for the town of Morrill.
His obituary in the Penobscot Bay Pilot was filled with stories of his love of family, community, the outdoors, and the land that had been in his family for generations. He was a man who did things, embraced his family, hunted and fished the land he grew up on, and gained purpose from everything that surrounded him. He gave back in gratitude.
Volunteer firefighters are the unsung heroes in the majority of Americans’ lives. In a state such as Maine, which is more than 61% rural, volunteer firefighting units are critical to keeping the state’s treasure, people, and dense forests safe. Yet, it is a call to serve that fewer and fewer men and women are willing to do
According to the Maine branch of the Volunteer Firefighters Association, there are around 433 fire departments led by 338 volunteer fire chiefs. More than 90% of Maine’s fire departments are staffed mostly or entirely by volunteers.
Maine is not alone. There is a shortage of volunteer firefighters in this county, reaching a crisis level nearly a decade ago. These are the men and women who have often been first on the scene of some of the most recent tragedies in this country, extinguishing fires and explosions.
It was the East Palestine volunteer fire department that was first on the scene when the Norfolk Southern train filled with chemicals derailed in February 2023, with 1.1 million pounds of carcinogens emitted, according to a federal lawsuit.
At the time, the East Palestine department employed just one full-time firefighter. The rest were volunteers. Local firefighters who respond, often volunteers, aren’t just vulnerable to the effects of smoke and chemicals. They can also lose their lives when the unexpected happens, such as the explosion that took Cross’s life, or falling through floors, flashovers, backdrafts, and fire whirls.
When Flight 93 crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 11, 2001, the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department was all on the scene in the rural part of the state.
Rodney, who doesn’t want to give his last name, is 74 years old. He is still working as an active volunteer firefighter. He is picking up groceries at Duppstead’s General Store here in Buckstown. Shanksville is right behind the store.
“They can’t get anyone to drive the big trucks, so I am still there,” he said before adding that his all-volunteer fire department was one of the first on the scene on 9/11.
Maine is just a microcosm of what is a nationwide problem. According to the National Fire Protection Association, the nation’s volunteer fire service has lost 25% of its overall members since 2008. At the same time, the call volume has increased dramatically.
The escalating subtraction of volunteer firefighters, a service that many people take for granted, has received little attention despite the alarming consequences.
Volunteers like Cross are the spine of our communities and have been since the formation of our country. They are the men and women who have served as the beating heart of our emergency response system. They give their free time and sometimes give their lives.
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In 2024, 33 career firefighters, 32 volunteer firefighters, 5 wildland firefighters, and 2 part-time firefighters lost their lives answering the call to duty. Over 170 million, just about half of the U.S. population, live in neighborhoods that are primarily served by volunteers.
Men like Cross, who step up without any hesitation to serve their community. By all accounts, he wouldn’t have cared for any fuss and just did what he was called to do.
Heroes like Cross walk among us every day. Often unnoticed, and this, in part, is what motivates them. They coach our children in Little League and on soccer fields. They serve as ushers at our local churches.
We need more people in our country to step up and serve our communities. That doesn’t necessarily mean that we should serve as firefighters, but rather that the spirit of volunteerism in any association is the backbone of what made us. We are a better country when we serve, in any form and in any amount.