Another firefighter released from hospital nearly two months after Searsmont explosion

 Belmont firefighter Katie Paige leaves Maine Medical Center in Portland after being discharged on Friday. (Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer) PORTLAND — It was a quick and quiet affair Friday morning when firefighter Katie Paige left Maine Medical Center. Amid record heat and on the observed Independence Day holiday, Paige, in a wide-brimmed white hat with her hands bandaged, walked out of the hospital’s back door just after 12 p.m. She traveled past a line of first responders and got into a black truck, before being escorted by an eight-vehicle convoy down the Western Promenade. It’s been almost two months since [a fire and subsequent explosion](https://www.pressherald.com/2026/05/15/searsmont-fire-draws-large-emergency-response/) in a silo at Robbins Lumber in Searsmont killed three and injured at least 10. Paige, a Belmont firefighter who sustained severe burns when she responded to the incident, was promoted to lieutenant while hospitalized. [](https://www.pressherald.com/2026/05/22/inside-the-searsmont-lumber-mill-fire-and-explosion/) Related [Inside the Searsmont lumber mill fire and explosion](https://www.pressherald.com/2026/05/22/inside-the-searsmont-lumber-mill-fire-and-explosion/) The blaze drew more than 100 first responders from dozens of Midcoast towns. Investigators [later determined](https://www.pressherald.com/2026/05/26/investigators-rule-robbins-lumber-fire-as-accidental/) that the fire was an accident, and that an explosion near the base of the silo lifted the structure from its concrete base, engulfing the surrounding area in flames. One firefighter, 27-year-old [Andrew Cross, of Morrill](https://www.pressherald.com/2026/05/21/hundreds-pay-their-respects-to-fallen-morrill-firefighter-andrew-cross/), died at the scene. Assistant Searsmont Fire Chief Wayne Woodbury, 76, [died of his injuries](https://www.pressherald.com/2026/06/15/a-month-after-explosion-a-firefighters-community-welcomes-him-home/) in June. Advertisement And on Friday, just hours after Paige’s release, the Robbins family announced that Alden Robbins, one of three family members who was injured in the explosion and remained hospitalized at Massachusetts General, [had died Thursday](https://www.pressherald.com/2026/07/03/robbins-lumber-co-owner-dies-from-explosion-injuries/). Paige is the latest person injured in the explosion to be released from the hospital; Montville firefighter Jacob Spaulding [went home from Maine Med](https://www.pressherald.com/2026/06/15/a-month-after-explosion-a-firefighters-community-welcomes-him-home/) last month. [](https://www.pressherald.com/2026/06/15/a-month-after-explosion-a-firefighters-community-welcomes-him-home/) Related [A month after explosion, a firefighter’s community welcomes him home](https://www.pressherald.com/2026/06/15/a-month-after-explosion-a-firefighters-community-welcomes-him-home/) At least one other injured firefighter, Chief of Searsmont Rescue Sarah Tompkins, remains at the Portland hospital, where she has had seven surgeries in five weeks, according to [a June 22 post on the social media account of the farm](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ5drP1x2gH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA=) Tompkins owns with her husband. Paige’s husband, Paul, has been diligently sharing her recovery story on social media. In the days after the fire, he said she was still on a breathing tube and would need several surgeries and skin grafts. She had to have four finger tips on her left hand amputated, according to an update on a GoFundMe page. In early June, Paul announced that his wife had been moved out of the intensive care unit; two days later, he wrote that she was sitting up, eating and talking. [](https://w2pcms.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/43684363_20260703_katie-paige_2.jpg) Belmont firefighter Katie Paige, escorted by her husband, Paul, leaves Maine Medical Center in Portland after being discharged on Friday. (Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer) He described setbacks with the skin grafts on her hands, but announced her release from the hospital on Friday. Neither of them gave a statement Friday morning, but in a post Thursday announcing her impending release, Paul said, “she’s our Hero.” Because of holiday traffic, the Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office instructed the procession of first responders to meet up with the smaller escort at the Augusta Civic Center and travel with Paige up Route 3 back to Belmont, where she will [receive a hero’s welcome](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1D3aHfZdwR/). Copy the Story Link Tagged: [firefighters](https://www.pressherald.com/tag/firefighters/), [maine medical center](https://www.pressherald.com/tag/maine-medical-center/), [Searsmont explosion](https://www.pressherald.com/tag/searsmont-explosion/) [](https://www.pressherald.com/author/riley-board) [Riley BoardStaff Writer](https://www.pressherald.com/author/riley-board) Riley covers education for the Press Herald. Before moving to Portland, she spent two years in Kenai, Alaska, reporting on local government, schools and natural resources for the public radio station KDLL. [More by Riley Board](https://www.pressherald.com/author/riley-board)