Tributes paid to three victims of Bicester blaze, including two firefighters

The Guardian

17-05-2025

Tributes have been paid to the three people, including two firefighters, who were killed in a fire at a business park in Bicester.
Firefighters Jennie Logan, 30, and Martyn Sadler, 38, were killed at the former RAF base in Oxfordshire. David Chester, 57, a father of two from Bicester, who worked at the site, also died.
Two firefighters remain seriously injured in hospital.
Dozens of floral tributes could be seen at the scene on Saturday. One message read: 'Sending all our love to those who don't think twice making that sacrifice to help others.
'Thinking of the fire service, their families, friends and the wider community and those services who came to help. Rest easy, from a local family.'
Bicester rugby union football club, where Logan and Sadler were members and involved with the women's team, said it had heard the news with 'profound sadness'. In a statement posted on X, it said 'their presence at the club will be massively missed'.
Sherine Wheeler, the chief executive of the Fire Fighters Charity, said it was 'a powerful reminder of the courage and sacrifices shown by firefighters every day'.
Wheeler told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the charity was 'heartbroken' by the news, and sent her condolences to the families of the three people who had died.
She added: 'Firefighters go to work every day knowing that there are risks but when something like this happens it brings that reality really crashing home.
'To lose two firefighters has a far-reaching impact across the whole of the fire service community.'
Chester was the proprietor of a family-run fencing and groundworks company, Chester & Sons.
On Friday, a spokesperson for Bicester Motion busines park said: '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.'
The fire was reported at 6.30pm on Thursday and spread through a former aircraft hanger at the site. Its cause it not yet known. At its height, 10 crews were tackling the blaze.
Police have launched an unexplained death investigation, but are not treating it as a criminal inquiry.
The business park was formerly home to RAF Bicester, an airbase that formed part of bomber command.
It was decommissioned in 2004, and converted into a home for more than 50 specialist businesses that focus on classic care restoration and engineering.
A golden plaque has been erected underneath the Bicester Motion sign at the entrance to the site.
It reads: 'Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service. Bicester Motion. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by the sad loss of two firefighters and the member of the public. Love from the Bicester community.'
Oxford city council has lowered the city's flag over Oxford town hall in tribute to the three victims of the fire.
People are being asked to lay flowers at Bicester's Garth Park. A book of condolence will open at Garth House, in the park, on Monday.