By Andy Woolfoot
The Gloucestershire Echo
CIRENCESTER, England — Investigators are trying to piece together the circumstances surrounding the death of a fire chief at Cotswold Airport.
Steve Mills, fire services manager, was killed when a high-pressure cylinder went off unexpectedly.
DC Nick MacKian, from Wiltshire Police, indicated early reports stating Mr Mills died in an explosion were inaccurate.
He added that Mr Mills was not responding to a fire incident and there were no witnesses.
A spokesman for the airport said they were unable to comment on the incident, which has been handed over the Health and Safety Executive.
HSE spokesman, Wailim Wong, said: “It’s early days in the investigation. We are still trying to establish what happened — there are a lot of unanswered questions which we are trying to get to the bottom of.”
Mr Mills became fire services manager not long after the airport re-branded from Kemble to Cotswold Airport in 2009.
His colleagues released a joint tribute to him. It said: “Ronan Harvey, the board of directors and staff of Cotswold Airport wish to pay tribute to our fire chief, colleague and much-loved friend Steve Mills.
“His untimely death is a tragedy to us all and the sense of loss felt by everyone at Cotswold Airport is immense.
“Steve was a joy to work and socialise with and our thoughts and prayers are with his family. Steve, who was a long-standing senior member of staff at the airport for many years, played a key role in helping develop the facility after it changed into private ownership, and his enthusiasm for the job and skills were of the highest calibre.
“His diligence, leadership qualities and affable nature earned him the utmost respect and affection of all his colleagues.”
Fire chief, Simon Routh-Jones, also spoke on behalf of Mr Mills’ colleagues at Malmesbury Fire Station, where he had been a retained firefighter for more than 10 years.
He said: “I would like to express our deepest sympathies to the family, friends and colleagues of firefighter Steve Mills.
“Steve was a dedicated and popular member of the team and brought a great deal to the service during his time with us, thanks to his full-time employment at Cotswold Airport and his previous work elsewhere in the aviation fire service.
“Steve will be greatly missed by everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him — all of the crew at Malmesbury are devastated by the loss of a friend and colleague.”
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