Alden Robbins, a co-owner and vice president of sales for Robbins Lumber Company in Searsmont, died Thursday at Massachusetts General Hospital from injuries sustained in a devastating fire and explosion at the family-owned mill nearly two months earlier. He was the third person to die as a result of the May 15 disaster that shook the small Midcoast community.
Robbins was one of three family members injured in the catastrophic event. His brother Jim Robbins, the company’s president, and his daughter Lily Robbins, an EMS volunteer who responded to the emergency, were also severely burned in the blast. All three had been undergoing treatment at Massachusetts General’s renowned burn center in Boston.
The May 15 incident occurred when a fire started in a section of the mill where wood shavings are bagged for retail sale and spread to a nearby silo filled with dust. Investigators later determined the fire was accidental, and that an explosion near the base of the silo lifted the structure and engulfed the area in flames. The massive explosion injured more than a dozen people and claimed two lives before Robbins’ death.
The first fatality was 27-year-old Andrew Cross, a Morrill firefighter, who was killed at the scene. The second was 76-year-old Wayne Woodbury, the Searsmont assistant fire chief, who succumbed to his injuries in June after battling burn wounds sustained while fighting the blaze. Hundreds of firefighters and first responders from across the region answered the call on that tragic Friday morning, with more than 100 personnel ultimately responding to the emergency.
Governor Janet Mills expressed her profound sorrow at Robbins’ passing, saying she was mourning the loss of a leader in Maine’s lumber industry and steward of a historic business. “My heart is with his family, including his father and former company president James Robbins, Alden’s wife, Amy, and their six children — among them daughter Lily, who continues to battle injuries she sustained during the same fire,” Mills said in a statement.
Alden Robbins represented the fifth generation of his family to operate Robbins Lumber, which has been a cornerstone of Searsmont since 1881 when Frank and Otis Robbins first opened a small stave mill on the St. George River. The company evolved into Maine’s premier Eastern White Pine sawmill, one of the largest in the country, and became deeply woven into the fabric of the small town of about 1,400 people.
Under Robbins’ leadership as vice president of sales, he also served as chairman of the Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association and sat on multiple industry boards. The company employs more than 100 people in Searsmont and owns or manages more than 30,000 acres of forest across Maine. Beyond its direct workforce, Robbins Lumber supports nearly 100 logging contractors across the state and serves as a crucial economic lifeline for the region.
Robbins had taken full operational responsibility of the mill alongside his siblings Catherine Robbins-Halsted and Jim Robbins when they assumed ownership from their father and uncle in 2013. The three maintained a close family bond while running the business, with all three living within a mile of the mill. Under their stewardship, the company continued to grow while reinvesting in the business and expanding operations, including acquiring Limington Lumber in East Baldwin.
The announcement of Alden Robbins’ death came hours after Belmont firefighter Katie Paige was released from Maine Medical Center. Paige had lost four fingers and required skin grafts on her hands during her treatment. However, at least one other firefighter injured in the incident, Chief of Searsmont Rescue Sarah Tompkins, remained hospitalized at the time of Robbins’ death.
The community had rallied in the weeks following the explosion. Donation drives collected tens of thousands of dollars for the families of those injured or killed, while the Town of Searsmont created a fire relief fund. Competitors in Maine’s lumber industry also contributed thousands to help the company rebuild operations. Robbins Lumber resumed full milling operations on May 26, just eleven days after the disaster, utilizing operations at other facilities including its East Baldwin location to continue serving customers.
The loss extends beyond the immediate family. Searsmont is a tight-knit community where nearly everyone knows someone who works at the mill. The Robbins family has been integral to the town’s identity for generations, having donated land for the fire station, ball field, and the community building that houses the town office, historical society, and public library — a structure built with lumber donated by the family.
Alden Robbins’ death marks another profound loss for the region and underscores the lasting human toll of the May 15 disaster. His passing leaves a significant void in both his family and in Maine’s forest products industry, an industry that contributes over $8 billion annually to the state’s economy and provides approximately 29,000 jobs.