The empty bunker gear and bunches of flowers sitting outside the Morrill fire hall Saturday morning were a silent tribute to a man friends called a “wicked happy guy” who would “do anything for anybody.”

Three years ago, 27-year-old Andrew Cross joined the volunteer department in the 1,000-person town where he lived. On Saturday, an honor procession for him passed by the fire station and town offices as neighbors, friends and family lined up to say goodbye.

Cross, a machinist at Bath Iron Works and a local landscaper who plowed the town’s roads, “didn’t think twice” when the emergency call came in Friday morning for a mass-casualty fire from a sawmill in neighboring Searsmont, according to Morrill Fire Chief Dean Rowlands.

Cross was killed in the line of duty during an explosion at the Robbins Lumber facility, an event so massive the resulting smoke plume reached 4,000 feet and was visible on National Weather Service radar.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner officially identified Cross on Saturday morning. State Fire Marshal Shawn Esler expressed grief on behalf of the state’s public safety agencies.

“Our deepest sympathies, thoughts, and prayers are with the firefighter’s family, loved ones, and colleagues during this devastating time,” Esler said in a statement.

A procession escorted Cross home to Waldo County on Saturday morning, traveling from the state medical examiner’s office in Augusta past the Morrill fire station to the Riposta Funeral Home in Belfast. Local fire departments lined the roads along the way to pay their respects.

Jethro Pease was Morrill’s fire chief when Cross joined. Pease, who is now retired from that top job, recalled being immediately struck by his work ethic. On Saturday, Pease described Cross as a “good, bright young man” who would do anything for anybody.

Waldo County firefighters are all volunteers, Pease said. Most of them have day jobs. That can make it difficult to wrangle crews together when fires break out midday, Pease said. But Cross didn’t hesitate when the call came Friday.

“He didn’t think twice,” Pease said.

Cross may have learned that from his former chief. Despite his retirement, Pease said he sprang into action Friday morning as soon as he heard a first responder shout “explosion!” over the police scanner he keeps in his house. He drove to the mill even though his wife didn’t want him to.

“I knew things were going to go to hell,” Pease said.

The Searsmont Fire Department responded to an initial structure fire at the mill just after 10 a.m. An hour later, after employees had evacuated and firefighters were trying to put out the fire, the silo exploded. The concussion was heard miles away.

Cross was killed and at least 10 others were injured. Eight injured in the explosion were being treated at MaineHealth’s Maine Medical Center in Portland on Saturday afternoon and two taken to the hospital on Friday were treated and transferred, according to MaineHealth spokesperson Caroline Cornish.

About 200 firefighters from two dozen fire departments responded to the call, Pease said. Most of them were volunteers, but Pease was quick to point out they receive the same training as full-time professional firefighters.

“You couldn’t tell the difference yesterday,” Pease said Saturday. “It was a well-oiled machine.”

Robbins Lumber is one of the biggest white pine mills in the country and employs more than 200 people at its 40-acre Searsmont location. On Friday, Christian Halsted, whose family is part owner of Robbins Lumber, said it was “a hugely devastating day” for the family.

“We feel for the first responders, family, the employees,” he said.

On Saturday, in the heart of Searsmont, American flags lined the street. The marquee outside of the Searsmont United Methodist Church read “praying without ceasing for our town” and “praying for all who are hurting in our grieving community.”

On the counter of the Fraternity Village General Store, a donation bucket was set up for Robbins Lumber.

There was ongoing activity at the lumber yard on Saturday, as firefighters continued to address the smoldering remains of Friday’s fire. The air, though now clear of smoke plumes, was thick with the smell of burning wood.

Tom Fish began volunteering with Morrill’s fire department around the same time Cross did. When the department bought a new tanker truck from Long Island, the two made the 14-hour drive there and back to bring it home to Morrill. It sat in the back of the station on Saturday as the procession drove by.

“He was always smiling,” Fish said of Cross. “Just a wicked happy guy.”

Friday was not the first time Midcoast firefighters responded to a fire at Robbins Lumber.

David White, a Morrill volunteer firefighter, didn’t make it to Friday’s fire until close to 6 p.m. — like many of Morrill’s volunteers, he has a day job — he said he has been called out to the mill many times, usually for small fires caused by machinery. Mill fires are not uncommon, he said.

Robbins Lumber has its own fire crew and “really good” suppression systems, White said.

But Friday’s fire was different, White said. His department had never battled a blaze that large. The fire itself was less striking to White, however, than how quickly everyone came together to put it out.

“It was incredible,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”