The entrances to the stand were all at the rear and were higher than the rest of the ground. [30], The outcome of the test case resulted in over 154 claims being addressed (110 civilians and 44 police officers)[31] by the injured or bereaved. I do not include the people currently running the club, who have always displayed a great, sensitive duty to the memory of those who died. He lit a cigarette and when it was coming to an end he put it down on to the floorboard and tried to put his foot on it to put it out. Christmas Day is supposed to be happy and pleasant, a time to gather with loved ones for a chill and relaxing celebration. The 51 other bodies of children, women and men were so badly burned that identification will take many days. The stand had been officially condemned and was due to be replaced with a steel structure after the season ended. As we move ahead on the 2030 Sustainability Roadmap, sustainability projects are taking center stage. The only fire extinguishers in the ground were in the clubroom, which is also in the main stand. You may notice some big changes in Black Rock City this year. According to ABC News, though, several hundred people in the Chinese city of Luoyang decided to cut loose on Christmas night 2000 by heading to a nightclub housed on the fourth floor of a multi-use industrial building.A fire broke out in the basement of the structure . More than 3,500 people were crammed into the main stand area and this prevented people from moving away from the blaze quickly. 'It is the worst day in my life. The fire started five minutes before half-time during the match on 11 May between Bradford and Lincoln City. Hillsborough looms the largest in our collective consciousness, but there were also the many deaths that occurred at Heysel Stadium in 1985, as well as the Bradford City stadium fire that same year. Bradford City continues to support the burns unit at the University of Bradford as its official charity. [26], In July 1985, an inquest was held into the deaths; at the hearings the coroner James Turnbull recommended a death by misadventure outcome, with which the jury agreed. Mr Delahunte was screaming into his microphone describing the scene until it became impossible to continue broadcasting. As the blaze spread, the wooden stands and roofcovered with layers of highly flammable bituminous roofing feltquickly went ablaze. The playing area and stands were very basic but the ground had enough room for 18,000spectators. He later said: "I have never known anything like it, either before, or since. This day was for them. All you could hear was sirens and screams. "I looked up and saw the flames. There was hardly anything left of him.'. Fire on Upper Castle Street, Bradford Yorkshire Evening Post On This Day 1985: The Bradford City Fire 0:15 Bradford Mill fire 24:43 The Bradford Fire 0:26 Large fire in Bradford Yorkshire Evening Post Bradford Mill fire 0:34 Bradford Great Horton Mill fire 0:10 Fire at Bradford school (video: Glynn Beck) 4:05 bradford city fc fire 1985 "All you could see was black cloud. Then flames licked the underside of the seats, which were a combination of wood and plastic. A fire at a third division match between Bradford City and Lincoln City killed 56, including 11 children, and injured hundreds more. In the panic that ensued, fleeing crowds escaped on to the pitch but others at the back of the stand tried to break down locked exit doors to escape. After the fire, Bradford City also announced they would thereafter play with a black trim on their shirt sleeves as a permanent memorial to those who had died. The Bradford Burns Unit was set up by Professor David Sharpe after he received many of the victims following the fire. That duty was not a duty to the Club but a duty to the spectators and other persons in the stand. The man we see at 7:50 walking out onto the pitch on fire was a retired mill worker. "It is the little things that show how much people are still involved the fire still has a big impact on people. This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 13:41. Coach Terry Yorath described the events as "the worst day in my life. At the final home match against Barnsley at the end of April, Bradford City fans collected more than 8,000 in a bucket collection. "As a 15-year-old, you don't really know how much of an impact an event like that will have on your life," Town says. Bradford City stadium fire: The untold stories of the 1985 fire that devastated Valley Parade Thirty years after football's 'forgotten tragedy', the truth of what exactly happened when 56. Bradford City Stadium Fire 56 Dead & 100's Injured The Bradford City stadium fire was a stadium disaster that occurred during an English League Third Division fixture between Bradford City and Lincoln City on Saturday, 11 May 1985, killing 56 and injuring at least 265. "We couldn't help because there were so many people streaming towards us, to our side of the pitch, to get away from the heat. The Bradford City disaster took place on Saturday May 11, 1985 when a flash fire occurred at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, England. Burning Man is an event focused on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance held annually in the western United States. Part of the service was also held in Urdu and Punjabi as a sign of appreciation to the local ethnically Asian Subcontinental community in Manningham, Bradford and around Valley Parade who had opened their homes to Bradford City supporters to provide assistance in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. His son Christopher normally watches from the stand but on Saturday he joined other fans elsewhere. Lincoln City suffered two successive relegations, first to the Fourth Division in 1986, and again in 1987, becoming the first team to be automatically relegated from the Football League itself. I rolled over on my head, jumped up and ran off.". Spreading with almost unbelievable speed, a small fire under a wooden. [11] Those who escaped were taken out of the ground to neighbouring homes and a pub, where a television screened World of Sport, which broadcast video recorded of the fire just an hour after it was filmed. Your brain tells you, you are not going anywhere. "When I got to one of the final walls, there was an eight-foot drop at the other side, concrete at the bottom. Disaster struck at 3.43 pm. Some days I had two operations in a day. [36], In 2010, Susan Fletcher's son and survivor of the Bradford City fire (and witness to the Hillsborough disaster), Martin Fletcher, openly criticised the club's hierarchy at the time of the fire and the subsequent investigation. [49], Parrs Wood Press published Four Minutes to Hell: The Story of the Bradford City Fire (2005) by author Paul Firth;[50] the title refers to the estimated time it took for the stand to be completely ablaze from the first flames being spotted. Bradford fire: the horrors and the silence that had to be broken Daniel Taylor The policewoman assigned to the grieving Fletchers gets goosebumps when she looks back to 30 years ago. "For the first minute people were laughing and joking, it wasn't anything serious. That's when everybody else had the same thought. Among the main outcomes of the inquiry were the banning of new wooden grandstands at all UK sports grounds, the immediate closure of other wooden stands deemed unsafe and the banning of smoking in other wooden stands. "We went out on to the pitch and I could see so many happy faces. ", Hendrie: "We stayed in the pub for hours. Those are the words of David Pendleton, a survivor of the Bradford City fire disaster, which happened 30 years ago. The 1984-85 season had been one of the most successful in Bradford City's 82-year history. Bradford City Fire disaster: 36 years on the city's pioneering burns My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. On 23 February 1987, Sir Joseph Cantley found the club two thirds responsible and the county council (which by this time had been abolished) one third responsible. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. In the last few years, the BCFC kit-man John Duckworth did a sponsored 73-mile walk between Lincoln's Sincil Bank stadium and Valley Parade, joined by Bradford fans along the way. Although there was no perimeter fencing, such as led to the devastating crush at Hillsborough, locked turnstiles meant that many fans who tried to escape by that means were killed or seriously injured. Copyright 2023 IBTimes UK. Police officers also assisted in the rescue attempts. The stand itself was engulfed in seconds, almost as if petrol had been ignited throughout the block. So I decided to give it that next push. "Could any man really be as unlucky as Heginbotham had been?" For the 30th anniversary of the fire a new version of "You'll Never Walk Alone" was recorded at Voltage Studios in Bradford. ", Hendrie: "The players were told to go to the pub at the top of the road, we didn't know at this point if anyone had been killed. "[23], On the 25th anniversary of the fire, the University of Bradford established the United Kingdom's largest academic research centre in skin sciences as an extension to its plastic surgery and burns research unit.[24]. Helm: "There was a throw-in in front of the stand where the fire started - something caught my eye. Christopher Hammond, who was 12 on the day, said on the 20th anniversary of the fire: "As a 12-year-old, it was easy to move on I didn't realise how serious it was until I looked at the press coverage over the next few days. 1.7M subscribers in the CatastrophicFailure community. Former Bradford midfielder John Hendrie, who was playing in the match: "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. Although some attributed Lincoln City's sudden demise to the psychological effects of the fire on its players (together with the resignation of successful manager Colin Murphy shortly before the fire), it symbolised the wider crisis that the introduction of new safety legislation brought to Lincoln's Sincil Bank home. Led by former England international Trevor Cherry, the Bantams won only their third divisional title and earned a return to the second tier of English football for the first time since 1937. Website by, Bradford City FC stadium fire | 11th May 1985, Fundraising for firefighters and their families. Bradford City fire was started by a tourist who dropped a cigarette "If we were fed a lie about it being an accident, then we will be educated. It was later established that the blaze was caused by a fan who went to put his cigarette out but dropped it between the floorboards onto a pile of rubbish that had been building up below. Fifty people die in a fire in the grandstand at a soccer stadium in Bradford, England, on May 11, 1985. He had to undergo counselling and was unable to go to another game for several years. The fire was described as the worst fire disaster in the history of British football, and the worst football related disaster since 66spectators died at Ibrox in 1971. Fire disaster at football match (Bradford City stadium fire) - YouTube Sign in to confirm your age 0:00 / 5:23 Sign in to confirm your age This video may be inappropriate for some users.. The courts held the club to be two thirds responsible, finding that it gave "no or very little thought to fire precautions" despite repeated warnings. A Bradford Disaster Appeal Fund raised 3.5m for the victims and their families. Most of the fans who took this escape route were killed or seriously injured. "The players were told to go to the pub at the top of the road, we didn't know at this point if anyone had been killed. The other, situated by the main entrance, was donated by the club after its 7.5million (13million today) rebuilding of the original main stand in 2002. " Burning Man," " Burning Man Project," " Black Rock City ", and . Wildman: "I was burnt from top to bottom, on and off. Some had been crushed as they tried to crawl under turnstiles to escape. The game was irrelevant.". 2022 DECOMPRESSION WAS DREAMY . [15] They included three who tried to escape through the toilets, 27 who were found by exit K and turnstiles 6 to 9 at the rear centre of the stand, and two elderly people who had died in their seats. No one gave it the attention it ought to have received.. .. The Documentary highlighted the 'poison pen letters' and graffiti targeted at the then club chairman Stafford Heginbotham over accusations that he was in some way personally responsible for the deaths of the 56 people who died at the fire.[54]. Otherwise, I would not have been able to get out. The Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, Mr Colin Sampson, said yesterday that a team of doctors and pathologists had worked throughout the night trying to identify the dead. It was to be our day,' he said. [38], The tragedy received immense media attention and drew support from around the world, with those offering their sympathy including Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II. Following the hearing in 1986, a test case was brought against the club by David Britton, a police sergeant serving on the day, and by Susan Fletcher, who lost her husband John, 11-year-old son Andrew, John's brother Peter and his father Edmond in the fire. One letter from the council said the problems "should be rectified as soon as possible"; a second said: "A carelessly discarded cigarette could give rise to a fire risk." I saw one man lying on the ground, burning from head to foot. Instead it turned into a day of appalling tragedy. The scene in there was one of silence and shock. Videos, gifs, or aftermath photos of machinery, structures, or devices Grenfell among the UK's worst fire and tower tragedies "[55], Adams also went on to state that "I have read in some newspapers that he is being berated for his campaign to have a new inquiry. The Bradford City stadium fire occurred during a Football League Third Division match on Saturday, 11 May 1985 at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, killing 56 spectators and injuring at least 265. Police had an official photographer at the game, watching for crowd disturbance. Just look at how many people were standing around just 50-60 meters away from the blazing inferno. Treatment of casualties and Burns Research Unit, Dramatisations, documentaries and published works, West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council, Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of accidents and disasters by death toll, List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll, "Hideous images linger after carnage of 'celebration' day", "Caught in Time: Bradford City win the Third Division, 1985", "EXCLUSIVE: Bradford's Valley Parade fire must be remembered like Hillsborough", "History of The Bradford Sling The Bradford Sling", "Bradford City football stadium blaze surgeon honoured", "Research centre to be living memorial to Bradford City FC fire disaster", "The Papers of the Popplewell Inquiry into Crowd Safety at Sports Grounds", "Popplewell Inquiry Bradford City Fire", "Bradford remembered: The unheeded warnings that led to tragedy", Joseph Canley summing up statement from test case court transcripts, Newspaper report from Sport and the Law April 21st 1989, "The Glasgow Herald Google News Archive Search", Los Angeles Times report on Bradford City test case findings, Court transcript from the test case brought by Susan Fletcher and Others against Bradford City and Others, "Bradford fire survivor attacks judge over Hillsborough comments", "The Story of the Bradford Fire: 'could any man really be as unlucky as Stafford Heginbotham? "I got stuck against the wall with the weight of people behind me trying to get over. Forty-two minutes into the first half of the game, he looked to his left to see smoke and flames rising from the old wooden seats. Owing to windy conditions, less than four minutes later the entire wooden stand was engulfed in smoke and fire. Part of the Appeal funds were raised by a recording of "You'll Never Walk Alone"[42] from Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical Carousel by The Crowd (including Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers, who had recorded the 1963 version that led to Liverpool adopting it as their motto and team song), which reached number one in the UK Singles chart. BBC ON THIS DAY | 11 | 1985: Fans killed in Bradford stadium fire "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. "I walked past a public telephone outside the ground and there were queues of people waiting to ring home to say: 'I'm OK'. Popplewell's report was nowhere close to the quality of Lord Justice Taylor's report after Hillsborough, and since reading it as an adult I have always been very disappointed in it and considered it a poor piece of work. "A lot of investigative work had been done by the police when I got there. "The scene when I arrived was horrendous. At the time, however, Harrison says, Bradford just wanted to move on. While Valley Parade was re-developed, Bradford City played games at various neighbouring grounds: Elland Road, Leeds; Leeds Road, Huddersfield; and Odsal Stadium, Bradford. Wildman: "I was dragged on to the pitch and into a line of people, who couldn't do much for themselves and were lying there. Bradford fire: The Valley Parade disaster 30 years on We wanted to record the trophy presentation. "How quickly the fire spread is difficult to convey to people.". The blaze quickly engulfed the stand as Bradford played Lincoln City and claimed the lives of 59 people on May 11, 1985. [4], Although there had been some changes to other parts of the ground, the main stand remained unaltered by 1985. All that was left of the main stand were rows of bare steel and stone, with blackened timbers hanging from the few remaining roof supports. "Many people still don't want to talk about the disaster. ", There has always been a close bond between the club and its supporters since the fire, he adds. The stadium was known for its antiquated design and facilities, which included the wooden roof of the main stand. He was helped out of the stand by other fans and spent a period of time in hospital. A minute later he saw a small plume of smoke so he poured his coffee on it and so did his son. [10] The call was timed at 3:43pm. "I saw people die in the stand - but it was only until then that I realised the scale of it.". They wouldn't let us because then people would get in the way of fire engines, ambulances and police trying to get in. The blame was through neglect, they didn't have the money to maintain the stand. Now a new film claims an Australian was responsible for the worst . "[37], Fletcher subsequently published a book in 2015, Fifty-Six: The Story of the Bradford Fire which revealed a history of fires at businesses owned by the Bradford City chairman Stafford Heginbotham. [29] The Health and Safety Executive who were also part of the legal action were found to be non-liable. [10][11], Bradford's Telegraph & Argus newspaper published a souvenir issue for 11 May, entitled, "Spit and Polish for the Parade Ground". The horrific scenes of people burning alive seemed to live on in an eerie silence as daylight broke over the remains of Bradford City Football Club's ground yesterday. "As well as those who lost their lives or were injured, there are the relatives and friends, the others who were at the game, and those who would normally have gone to the match but decided not to that day. Yet many of those with terrible memories of the tragedy also take heart in the compassion born out of the devastation. On 11 May 1985 a fire erupted in the midst of a third-division tie between Bradford City and Lincoln City at Valley Parade, killing 54 home supporters and two Lincoln fans. List of building or structure fires - Wikipedia His face was burned and his car, which he had parked outside the ground, was destroyed. Warning: Some readers may find parts of this content distressing. As he received the injured at Bradford Royal Infirmary he was able to call upon 10% of the UK's population of plastic surgeons. All existing grandstands deemed fire risks were faced with immediate closure. People smothered him to extinguish the flames, but he later died of his injuries in hospital. "Me and my dad eventually got out safely but it was a bit of a struggle at one point because the walls getting down to the pitch level were quite high I didn't get a growth spurt until I was 16 or 17.". I saw a group of people around the smoke laughing. People pushed him to the ground and tried to smother the flames. Within five minutes the whole stand was engulfed in flames. The blaze, at the Happy Land Social Club in the Bronx, killed 87 people, the . Those who rescued people were themselves burned in the process. [52], On 1 May 2010, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fire the football TV show Football Focus was hosted from Valley Parade by Dan Walker, the show included interviews with Terry Yorath and John Hendrie. It slipped through a hole in the floorboard. On Saturday 11 May 2002, the 17th anniversary of the disaster, a memorial with the names of those who lost their lives was dedicated at the new entrance to the redeveloped Sunwin stand. Burning timber and molten material began to fall onto the seating below and black smoke enveloped the passageway behind, where fans were trying to escape. I don't know where Falconer is getting this cock-and-bull story from the inaccuracies in this report [documentary] are dumbfounding. Pendleton: "I walked past a public telephone outside the ground and there were queues of people waiting to ring home to say: 'I'm OK'. Pendleton: "Many people still don't want to talk about the disaster. Bradford City stadium fire: Remembering the 56 who died at Valley - IBT A police officer shouted to a colleague for an extinguisher, but his call was misheard and instead the fire brigade were radioed. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. The wooden roof that burned was scheduled to be replaced by a steel roof later that same . The fire claimed young and old alike, with most fatalities occurring at the rear of the stand where people sought escape only to find turnstiles locked. A call was made on a police radio to the police operations room in Bradford and relayed to the fire brigade at 3.43 pm. The fundraising events included a reunion of the 1966 World Cup Final Starting XI that began with the original starting teams of both England and West Germany, and was held at Leeds United's stadium, Elland Road, in July 1985 to raise funds for the Appeal fund. The horrific scenes of people burning alive seemed to live on in an eerie silence as daylight broke over the remains of Bradford City Football Club's ground yesterday. We had not been told anything.". Valley Parade during the early 1990s, after it had been redeveloped following the fire.
burning man bradford city stadium fire