What we know about the father and two firefighters killed in fire at ex-RAF base

David Chester and firefighters Jennie Logan and Martyn Sadler died after explosions were heard at Bicester Motion on Thursday.

Floral tributes outside Bicester Fire Station (Emily Smith/PA)

Two firefighters and a “selfless” father have been killed in a fire at a former RAF base.

Firefighters Jennie Logan, 30, and Martyn Sadler, 38, died after explosions were heard at Bicester Motion on Thursday.

David Chester, 57, from Bicester, was also killed.

Here is what PA knows about the victims:

– David Chester

Mr Chester’s family-run groundworks and fencing company had been working at the former RAF base on behalf of English Heritage and Bicester Heritage, according to the Chester and Sons website.

Damaged buildings after the fire (Andrew Matthews/PA)

The company website says its work at Bicester Motion “included carefully unearthing four buried wartime air raid shelters so as not to damage the structures to allow them to be renovated by another contractor”.

The main task was strengthening the former airfield’s control tower which was in danger of collapse, it added.

“This involved cutting out damaged sections of the old concrete ring beams separating each floor and reinforcing them with specially-fabricated stainless steel armatures as well as adding a new asphalt roof in line with the original roofing”, it said.

Bicester Motion’s chief executive Daniel Geoghegan said Mr Chester had been “a pillar of our whole business community” along with his wife and two sons.

The father “had a long history with the estate – indeed from man and boy”, having joined Bicester Motion when it first bought the site 12 years ago, he added.

The statement continued: “We considered him a member of our team, part of the fabric of our estate and a friend to us all.

“Whenever you had a question, you would ‘just ask Dave’, not just him but his whole family as they all cared about this place just as much as we do.

“Our whole community used to say that ‘Dave always had our back.’ Yesterday, he was doing just that – the epitome of his selfless spirit.”

Clouds of smoke seen near the scene of a fire at Bicester Aerodrome (Kieran McG/PA)

– Martyn Sadler

Mr Sadler worked at Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service (OFRS) and was also part of London Fire Brigade.

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service Chief Fire Officer, Rob MacDougall, speaks to the media outside at Bicester Motion — Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service chief fire officer Rob MacDougall speaks to the media outside at Bicester Motion (Andrew Matthews/PA)

He was involved in the Bicester Rugby Union Football Club women’s Vixens team.

The London Fire Commissioner, Andy Roe, said Mr Sadler “exemplified courage and selflessness” and was serving on retained duty at Bicester Fire Station.

He described him as “a well-respected and much-loved colleague who exemplified courage and selflessness in the service of others”.

He was a leading firefighter in Ealing, west London, and an instructor in breathing apparatus and fire behaviour at the Fire Service College.

A tribute to Mr Sadler posted on social media said: “Thank you to everyone for the overwhelming number of messages following the devastating loss of my cousin, colleague, role model and hero Martyn Sadler at the fire in Bicester last night.”

– Jennie Logan

Ms Logan also worked at OFRS and was involved in the Bicester Rugby Union Football Club women’s Vixens team.

BRUFC said in a post on social media that “their presence at the club will be massively missed”.