This article by Anna Merriman was first published May 26 in the Valley News.
CORINTH — A 21-year-old man who died in a house fire early Tuesday morning was a hardworking student and devoted friend, according to family and friends.
“He went out of his way to try and help people, sometimes to excess,” said Dave Grudem of his foster son, Max Thurber. “He liked helping others and talking to people about their issues.”
Thurber, a student at Northern Vermont University, was killed early Tuesday morning in a fire in Corinth, according to a news release from the Vermont State Police, who investigated the fire. An autopsy completed Wednesday showed he died from smoke inhalation and thermal burns, the release said.
The fire broke out at about 3 a.m. at a house at 642 Camp Munn Road, where Thurber was living with his mother, Diane Thurber, 56, and another man, Ryan Goodwin, 35. Diane Thurber and Goodwin were able to escape from the double-wide mobile home and sought help from a neighbor, who called the fire department, according to Corinth Fire Chief Ed Pospisil.
Pospisil was the first to arrive at the fore and found the mobile home engulfed in flames with its roof caved in. He said his crew learned that there was still someone inside the home, but the fire was so intense they weren’t able to get through.
A related brush fire near two propane tanks — which sat next to the home but were untouched in the blaze — made the scene even more dangerous, he said.
“There was no way we would even have attempted to try to get him out,” Pospisil said. “It was like a ball of fire.”
The department called for backup from other Vermont agencies, including Bradford, Piermont, Thetford, West Fairlee and Vershire, and firefighters battled the flames for hours until they got it under control.
Diane Thurber was taken to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and then to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston for treatment, where she was being held in the intensive care unit Wednesday.
Goodwin was taken to Dartmouth-Hitchcock, where he was treated for his injuries and was in stable condition Tuesday, according to a news release from the Vermont State Police.
State police have deemed that the fire was not suspicious, and that it started on the front porch of the home in a can used to discard “smoking materials,” according to the release.
Family and friends took to social media Wednesday to mourn Thurber, whom family friend Megan Brown Helm called a loving friend and “deep thinker.”
“He was gregarious and could strike up conversations with people easily. He had that special social skill for relating to others, which is rare with teenagers,” Helm recalled of Thurber’s teenage years.
Thurber was in foster care by the time he was a teenager, which is when the Department for Children and Families introduced him to Grudem. A frequent foster parent, Grudem took Thurber into his home in 2014 and raised him through high school at Thetford Academy.
“Max Thurber was one of a kind, and none of us who knew him will ever forget him,” said Kelly Welsh, who taught Thurber in her world history and psychology classes at Thetford Academy.
He was particularly interested in psychology, Welsh said, adding that Thurber always had a personal story to share and always had “good humor” about the stories he told.
Throughout his life, Thurber had medical issues, which forced him to carry a gallon of water everywhere he went.
Recently he was on a transplant list for a new kidney and underwent dialysis while completing his schoolwork for NVU, said Grudem.
Still, Grudem said his foster son embraced life and the two enjoyed several trips together, including one memorable vacation to Montreal in 2017.
With pride, Grudem recalled that they visited a French restaurant together and Thurber, who enjoyed his language classes at Thetford Academy, ordered everything in French.
Welsh also remembers Thurber’s determination amid his medical challenges.
During the annual senior class trip to Mount Moosilauke in the White Mountains, she said Thurber showed up — gallon jug of water in hand — determined to hike the mountain with his classmates. He knew he was unlikely to reach the summit, Welsh said, but “certain that he’d try.”
That drive carried over into his adult years, too. Grudem said the yearlong quarantine and remote schooling amid the COVID-19 pandemic was difficult for his foster son, who began to slip in some of his classes and even considered dropping out entirely. But, Grudem said, Thurber pushed through in the fall, re-enrolling himself in class and getting back on track to graduate next year.
Grudem said Thurber had many different passions, but often they went back to helping people. Social work, which was one of his favorite areas of study in college, would have likely been a fit, Grudem said.
“I think he would have had a very positive attitude that would help other people,” he said.
