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Fletcher said that "The club at the time took no actual responsibility for its actions and nobody has ever really been held accountable for the level of negligence which took place. Cigarette smoking was also banned at all grounds with wooden stands. The only fire extinguishers in the ground were in the clubroom, which is also in the main stand. The game was irrelevant. The heat was so intense it caused car windows to shatter in the street. 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. His son Christopher normally watches from the stand but on Saturday he joined other fans elsewhere. All that was left of. The playing area and stands were very basic but the ground had enough room for 18,000spectators. 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. All you could hear was sirens and screams. He photographed the blaze from start to finish and the police will use this as evidence when an inquest is held. Martin Fletcher, whose brother, father, grandfather and uncle all died in the fire: "I'm taking the opportunity to lay out the facts that were not laid out in 1985 at the time of the inquiry or the inquests. It seemed to put it out. 'The fire just spread along the length of the stand in seconds. 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. Burning Man.NYC. We went there to win the last game in front of a home crowd. 56 dead and hundreds more injured. 'I think that is unlikely,' he said. The Bradford Disaster Appeal fund, set up within 48hours of the disaster, eventually raised over 3.5million (11.3million today). He agreed that the inquiry into Bradford, led by the judge Oliver Popplewell, was inadequate and that there are many unanswered questions. [16] Messages of condolence were also received from Helmut Kohl, Chedli Klibi and Felipe Gonzlez. Like all areas of forensic investigations, it has come on leaps and bounds. The fire brigade said that when heat builds up so quickly it can cause flames to move much quicker than people can walk. [14] It took less than four minutes for the entire stand to be engulfed in flames.[11]. Helm later described the start of the fire in an interview to the Express newspaper: .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, [A] man over from Australia visiting his son got two tickets to the game. [8][10] Three men smashed down one door and at least one exit was opened by people outside, which again helped prevent further deaths. [6] 1908 - Parker Building, New York City, January 10. "The scene when I arrived was horrendous. ', Sports reporters covering the game also spoke of the disaster. "[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]. he asks. Most of the exits at the back were locked or shut and there were no stewards present to open them, but seven were forced open or found open. Eighty names were unaccounted for and there were no positive indications about the cause of the fire. Spreading with almost unbelievable speed, a small fire under a wooden. Someone came in and shouted: 'Get out, get out there's a fire'. Representatives from the fire brigade were due to go to the club tomorrow to inspect it and see whether regulations were being observed. An ancient wooden spectator stand and a dropped cigarette - the ingredients for one of Britain's deadliest soccer tragedies. [47] Scriptwriters of the play spent hours with the survivors and victims families. Valley Parade during the early 1990s, after it had been redeveloped following the fire. It was an awful thing to watch.". More than 250 others were injured in one of the. 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. Sir Oliver Popplewell, the High Court judge who led the Valley Parade inquiry in 1985: "The scene when I arrived was horrendous. Lincoln City's board responded by committing 1.1million (3.5million today) to their ground's renovation in the year that immediately followed the fire at Valley Parade, and over the following decade made improvements that eventually totalled 3million. The intensity of the blaze which spread 'quicker than people could walk' destroyed the main stand area, leaving a skeleton of burned seats, lamps and fences. Hendrie: "Us players must have been in the tunnel for seconds - and I mean seconds. Some of the dead were found at the bottom of these steps. In March 1985 the club's plans became more apparent when it took delivery of steel for a new roof. "[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. That duty was not a duty to the Club but a duty to the spectators and other persons in the stand. Heginbotham died in 1995, aged 61, and was never prosecuted for the stadium fire, despite the coroner later saying he had given serious consideration to bringing a charge of manslaughter as the club had failed to act on three separate warnings about a potential fire risk. The fire happened during a football match. 527 votes, 98 comments. [citation needed] Mathew Wildman, aged 17 at the time of the fire, commented that "I must have had five different experiments carried out on me with all sorts of new techniques for skin grafts and I had potions injected into me that helped my face repair naturally over time. "[28], West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council was found to have failed in its duty under the Fire Precautions Act 1971. A fire at a third division match between Bradford City and Lincoln City killed 56, including 11 children, and injured hundreds more. 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. The flames suddenly appeared and the whole roof took alight,' he said. Eight fires in the 18 years before the Bradford City fire were identified, many catastrophic and leading to large insurance payouts. At Valley Parade there are now two memorials. Fans in the next stand (the "Bradford End") pulled down the fence separating them from the pitch. [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. The Bradford City stadium fire was the worst fire disaster in the history of football.. "Several minutes before half-time I saw there was a wee bit of bother. [40] Matthew Wildman was 17 at the time and needed crutches to walk because of rheumatoid arthritis. Pendleton: "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. ", Popplewell: "I'm sorry to spoil what is obviously a very good story, but I'm afraid it is nonsense for many reasons.". Smoke was seen coming from the third row in the section but people are apparently used to seeing smoke flares on the Bradford ground. As the blaze spread, the wooden stands and roofcovered with layers of highly flammable bituminous roofing feltquickly went ablaze. 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. 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. We couldn't breathe. Others ran forward to try to clamber over a fence and a small wall on to the pitch. However, when Bradford City won promotion to the highest level of English football, Division One, in 1908, club officials sanctioned an upgrade programme. The extinguishers were put there so that they would be out of the way of fans who could use them as missiles, which apparently had happened previously. Bradford fan Matthew Wildman, who was aged 17 and using crutches because of rheumatoid arthritis: "When I got to one of the final walls, there was an eight-foot drop at the other side, concrete at the bottom. Come celebrate the beastly realm and our place in it and with it, an even more radically inclusive and sustainable city and global community in 2023: ANIMALIA! One elderly man started to walk across the pitch with his clothes and face ablaze. It slipped through a hole in the floorboard. Wealso use analytics cookies that don't track usersto help us improve it. 24 Bradford City A.F.C. 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. 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 I asked the director to get the camera to go a little closer. In those days there was a lot of hooliganism and violence, so my initial thought was: 'I hope it has not kicked off - that's the last thing we need'. Witnesses of the fire have come to terms with the tragedy in different ways. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. Another player went into the office space to ensure there was nobody there. [58] Following this report, Leslie Brownlie, who was the nephew in question, is reported to have said that his uncle never made such an admission of starting the fire. It is impossible so far to be accurate about the precise cause of the fire, with grossly conflicting reports from witnesses. Bradford City had just won the Third Division Championship and a record number of spectators over 11,000 had turned out to see the club presented with its first piece of league silverware in 56 years. 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. We use necessary cookies to make our site work. The fire started five minutes before half-time during the match on 11 May between Bradford and Lincoln City. It wasn't until later on when assistant manager Terry Yorath came in and said: 'It's not good.'". Copyright , Fire Brigades Union, 2023. There was a bit of paper on fire, but it was so small.". Police officers also assisted in the rescue attempts. People were arriving in a daze outside Bradford police headquarters on Saturday evening and early yesterday. Ironically, off-duty firemen were at the ground selling raffle tickets for a charity football match which should have been held yesterday. Police had an official photographer at the game, watching for crowd disturbance. A capacity 6,000 crowd attended a multi-denominational memorial service, held on the pitch in the sunny shadow of the burnt out stand at Valley Parade in July 1985. On the recording are Dene Michael (Black Lace), The Chuckle Brothers, Clive Jackson of Dr & The Medics, Owen Paul, Billy Pearce, Billy Shears, Flint Bedrock, Danny Tetley and Rick Wild of The Overlanders. Those who rescued people were themselves burned in the process. [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. The club's success had swollen the crowd to 10,000 and arguments will rage about fire precautions at the ground. The fire destroyed the main stand completely and left only burned seats, lamps and metal fences remaining. He appealed to people to be patient while forensic experts identified bodies. There were queues of people outside houses, which obviously wouldn't happen nowadays. But all the people being treated, we formed a family, a bond.". Warning: Some readers may find parts of this content distressing. "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. One man in tears said: 'He looked as if he was just going for a stroll. [2] The main stand was described as a "mammoth structure", but was unusual for its time because of its place on the side of a hill. It was a gruesome sight to see bodies still sitting upright in their seats, covered in tarpaulin. It was during this treatment that Sharpe began to develop the Bradford Sling,[21] which applies even pressure across sensitive areas. The next day work began on clearing the burnt out shell of the stand, and Justice Popplewell released his findings into the disaster. A bid of 350 has been made for the original painting and Town will sell 56 prints in memorial of those who lost their lives, with the aim of raising 3,000 for the Bradford Burns Unit. As he received the injured at Bradford Royal Infirmary he was able to call upon 10% of the UK's population of plastic surgeons. The inquiry into the disaster, chaired by Sir Oliver Popplewell and known as the Popplewell Inquiry,[25] led to the introduction of new legislation to improve safety at the UK's football grounds. One man clambered over burning seats to help a fan,[18] as did player John Hawley,[15] and one officer led fans to an exit, only to find it shut and had to turn around. One woman was seen running around the ground with no skin on her arms and face. We were given the trophy before the game in front of the supporters and had to do a lap of honour. As he scaled the brick perimeter wall at the front, his father stayed behind to help others escape. However, as there was no real precedent, most Bradfordians accepted that the fire was a terrible piece of misfortune. Mr Tony Delahunte, who was presenting a programme from the ground for Pennine Radio, said 'The fire seemed to me to start with a smoke bomb. Now a new film claims an Australian was responsible for the worst . We went over to the policeman stood at the corner flag and asked if it was being sorted out, and he said it was under control," Harrison says. Warnings had been issued over the ground's antiquated wooden structure, which had been condemned and was due to be pulled down and replaced with steel and concrete. Someone came in and shouted: 'Get out, get out there's a fire'. We wanted to record the trophy presentation. However, the turnstiles were locked and none of the stadium staff were present to unlock them, leaving no escape through the normal entrances and exits. He asks the reader to make their mind up about whether these fires were a coincidence or not.". [2] By 1911, his work was completed. [citation needed] Spectators later spoke of initially feeling their feet becoming warmer; one of them ran to the back of the stand for a fire extinguisher but found none. However, the responsibility of the Club is, in my view, very much the greater and I apportion responsibility between the two defendants as to two-thirds on the first defendant and one-third on the third (sic) defendant. The fact is that no one person was concerned with the safety of the premises. "I got pushed down to the front and I remember looking around and suddenly this smouldering, small fire had taken over virtually half a block and was starting to hit the roof. But I've never spoken to anyone who thought the fire wasn't anything other than a tragic accident. It transpired that the wooden stand had already been condemned and was set to be demolished just two days after the tragedy. It was appalling that public money was given to the club while it was still owned by the same shareholders under whose direction the fire had happened. "[11] Police Superintendent Barry Osborne, divisional commander for the area, said many of his officers cried when they saw how badly people had been burned. By the time they got back, the whole thing had taken off. Copyright 2023 IBTimes UK. He later died in hospital. And all you could smell was burning.". Exactly 79 years to the day after the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, another tragic fire occurred in New York City. Just look at how many people were standing around just 50-60 meters away from the blazing inferno. 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. It took the firemen four minutes to arrive at the ground but the speed of the fire was such that the blaze also took only four minutes to grip the entire stand. "The scene became progressively horrendous, grotesque, and I was having to describe things you couldn't possibly imagine.". Luckily, his father arrived home shortly after he did, but 30 years on, he still remembers the young woman who served him a Mars Bar and his father a coffee, who never made it out of the stadium. The stand had already been condemned, and the demolition teams were due to start work two days later. Police officers also assisted in the rescue attempts. I don't see that. "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. [51] Another book; 56: The Story of the Bradford Fire (2015) was written by Martin Fletcher to discuss how the disaster was caused, and follows his loss of his father, brother, uncle and grandfather. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. I looked down and I saw my hands melting. More than 3,500 people were crammed into the main stand area and this prevented people from moving away from the blaze quickly. 2022 DECOMPRESSION WAS DREAMY . 1909 - Flores Theater fire, Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico, on February 15, killed 250. "I was in the main stand when the fire happened," he says. There were no extinguishers in the stand's passageway for fear of vandalism, and one spectator ran to the clubhouse to find one but was overcome by smoke and impeded by others trying to escape. At the time of the disaster, many stadiums had perimeter fencing between the stands and the pitch to prevent incidents of football hooliganism particularly pitch invasions which were rife during the 1980s. 48,785 Location Lake Jonathan Creek The footage never gets any less shocking. 'This was a dreadful afternoon. "Until I arrived home my mum and my brother had no idea whether I was alive or dead. Town began to paint two years ago, first of the old Bradford Park Avenue ground, before moving onto other stadiums. And then suddenly, in the space of 120-odd seconds, it really kicked in. "I was operated on every other day because I had so many burns and so many areas to work on. Last updated on 10 May 201510 May 2015.From the section Football, "People didn't die because of fires at football grounds. "Then we ran out in our tracksuits each holding a massive card with a letter. The game was goalless after 40 minutes when play was stopped. [13], The match kicked off at 3:04pm and after forty minutes of the first half, the score remained 00,[14] in what was described as a drab affair with neither team threatening to score. "I was in the stand opposite when the fire broke out. Many who had walked out of the fire stood on the pitch looking back in horror as the flames destroyed the stand. He was asked if precautions would have been adequate had the club been in the Second Division. [17], One witness saw paper or debris on fire, about nine inches (230mm) below the floor boards. One, now re-situated to that end of the stand where the fire began, is a sculpture donated on the initial re-opening of Valley Parade in December 1986 by Sylvia Graucob, a then Jersey-based former West Yorkshire woman. Most of the fans who took this escape route were killed or seriously injured. One man clambered over burning seats to help a fan, as did player John Hawley, and one officer led fans to an exit, only to find it shut and turn around.Bradford City's coach Terry Yorath, whose family was in the stand, ran onto the pitch to help evacuate people. "It is the little things that show how much people are still involved the fire still has a big impact on people. We went there to win the last game in front of a home crowd. Those are the words of David Pendleton, a survivor of the Bradford City fire disaster, which happened 30 years ago. Interviews conducted by BBC Radio Leeds' Tim Daley. I ran to the stand and tried to help people escape. But a minute or so later there was suddenly a bigger whoosh of smoke so they went to get a steward. Last edited: May 11, 2021 May 11, 2019 #2 JohnnyKills Full Member Joined Jan 8, 2016 Messages 6,902 Yeah footage is horrendous isn't it. 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. Those who escaped walked to a nearby pub to use the phone to ring home, while others arrived in a daze outside the police headquarters to try and trace relatives. It's a nice little business and it's something positive that came out of a tragedy. Today marks the 35th anniversary of one of the worst disasters in the history of British football. Nigel Adams who worked for 12 years as a fire investigator with a British fire service was spurred on by the book to join the call for a fresh inquiry, stating that Fletcher's book was "one of the best accounts of a fire, as seen from a victim's point of view, and as a piece of investigative writing, I have ever read". We were sat in our football kit, we didn't know what to do. They were donated by Bradford's twin city of Hamm, Germany, and are situated in front of Bradford City Hall in both locations. I dread to imagine how many more could have died if the wind had been blowing in the direction of the pitch, instead of away from it. He was completely on fire and it looked as though he simply did not know what had happened to him.'. I'd seen the film on the Saturday but the bleakness of the stadium burnt out, and the gloom that afflicted everybody, was dreadful. The Bradford Burns Unit was set up by Professor David Sharpe after he received many of the victims following the fire. The smoke was choking. "I remember not being able to watch it, but we couldn't get out. [31] In 1988, the first compensation payments were made to survivors of the fire, with over 40 people receiving up to 40,000 each. So I threw myself over the wall and luckily someone dived in to catch me before I hit the floor.". "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. Other parents whose children had not arrived home on Saturday called at the police station or sat in cars outside, waiting for news. The match, Bradford against Lincoln, was to have been a joyous climax to the club winning the Third Division championship and being promoted to the Second Division. Footage of the accident at this point shows levels of confusion among the spectatorswhile many were trying to escape or to cross the pitch to the relative safety of the neighbouring stands, other spectators were observed cheering or waving to the still-rolling pitchside cameras. The book also raises concerns about the speed of the inquiry and the fact that it commenced a few weeks after the fire and lasted for only a few days, whereas other inquiries into similar incidents, pre and post the Bradford fire, have taken years to come to fruition and months to be heard. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. A police officer shouted to a colleague for an extinguisher, but his call was misheard and instead the fire brigade were radioed. So I decided to give it that next push. I've never seen anything like it. The whole fire seemed to erupt in seconds,' he said. People smothered him to extinguish the flames, but he later died of his injuries in hospital. We didn't know how serious it was.". Radiated heat from the burning roof of the stand set fire to the clothing of fans trapped underneath. Within 48 hours of the disaster, the Bradford Disaster Appeal Fund had been set up and would eventually raise over 3.5m ($5.4m). Everybody in the city was devastated, but there was an amazing number of volunteers. > Contacts> Join us> Circulars> Training courses> Sign up to Rollcall. [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. Police worked until 4am the next morning, under lighting, to remove all the bodies. The disaster led to rigid new safety standards in UK stadiums, including the banning of new wooden grandstands. The 4-alarm fire started in a one-story lumber storage building and spread to an adjacent building . It is a simple account laid out for all to see. We accepted it was an accident, nobody wanted to blame the club because it was the club we wanted to support. People were clambering over the wall on to the ground with their clothes and hair on fire. [45] PCs Peter Donald Barrett and David Charles Midgley, along with spectators Michael William Bland and Timothy Peter Leigh received the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct. For the 30th anniversary of the fire a new version of "You'll Never Walk Alone" was recorded at Voltage Studios in Bradford. [4], Although there had been some changes to other parts of the ground, the main stand remained unaltered by 1985. ", 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. It was the brainchild of Bradford City fan Lloyd Spencer with all profits going to the Bradford Royal Infirmary Burns Unit.[43]. It was nearly double the season's average of 6,610 and included 3,000fans in the ground's main stand. He was helped out of the stand by other fans and spent a period of time in hospital. The game was irrelevant.". As a result, Bradford-born captain Peter Jackson was presented with the league trophy before the final game of the season with mid-table Lincoln City at Valley Parade on 11 May 1985. All Rights Reserved. "Us players must have been in the tunnel for seconds - and I mean seconds. However, the fire had consumed the stand entirely by that point and they were faced with huge flames and very dense smoke. Fletcher has taken facts and presented them in such a way that it should make it moralistically impossible for this incident not to be looked at again. The entrances to the stand were all at the rear and were higher than the rest of the ground. Bradford City continues to support the burns unit at the University of Bradford as its official charity. Instead it turned into a day of appalling tragedy. ", IBT UK Morning Brief - Let the best of International News come to you. 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. 56 people dead. 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'. The stadium was known for its antiquated design and facilities, which included the wooden roof of the main stand. Crowds on the pitch at Bradford City's Valley Parade stadium after the stand caught fire, Bradford City fans pay tribute to the 56 fans who died the Bradford City stadium fire in 1985, The blaze causing the deaths of 56 supporters in one of the worst incidents in British football, Bradford artist Paul Town was inspired to paint after surviving the Valley Parade fire, Stay up to date with our daily newsletter, New book claims fatal 1985 Bradford City Valley Parade fire might have been started deliberately, Bradford City chairman 'linked to eight fires' before Valley Parade stadium disaster, Bradford City 0-0 Reading: Bantams hold Royals in quarter-final stalemate, David Alaba receives massive abuse for voting for Lionel Messi in The Best awards, Glazers' demands set to delay Manchester United takeover: reports, Man Utd beat West Ham to reach FA Cup quarters as Spurs crash out, Bahrain GP: F1 team rankings ahead of 2023 season-opener, Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Xavi admits Los Blancos still favourites to advance.

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