Spreading with almost unbelievable speed, a small fire under a wooden bench consumed the entire stand in under four minutes.Original TV footage: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x31qcmtIf you would like to support this channel - https://buymeacoffee.com/TheRavensEyeAlthough focused primarily on disasters, this channel is all about the interesting, the strange, the unsolved, the tragic. The heat was so intense it caused car windows to shatter in the street. Police had an official photographer at the game, watching for crowd disturbance. 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. Criticising Bradford City during the case, Mr. Michael Ogden QC, highlighted that the Club 'gave no or very little thought to fire precautions', despite repeated warnings. The fire destroyed the main stand completely and left only burned seats, lamps and metal fences remaining. Once we went out it was mayhem, manic, chaotic. The fire at Bradford City's Valley Parade stadium in which 56 people died and more than 270 were injured is remembered 25 years on. [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. Original television coverage of the fire, as caught by cameras covering the match. I'd seen the film on the Saturday but the bleakness of the stadium burnt out, and the gloom that afflicted everybody, was dreadful. England won the re-match 64. And then suddenly, in the space of 120-odd seconds, it really kicked in. 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. Copyright 2023 IBTimes UK. The firemen who arrived there were met by a wall of flame and dense black smoke. "We went out on to the pitch and I could see so many happy faces. Bradford City stadium fire | Football Wiki | Fandom 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. Those with longer memories will also think of the Ibrox disaster of . The fire started five minutes before half-time during the match on 11 May between Bradford and Lincoln City. 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. 1985 disaster in Valley Parade Stadium, Bradford, England. Fire kills 50 at soccer stadium - HISTORY 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. "I was in the stand opposite when the fire broke out. "[16] At the front of the stand, men threw children over the wall to help them escape. Disaster struck at 3.43 pm. The blame was through neglect, they didn't have the money to maintain the stand. Interviews conducted by BBC Radio Leeds' Tim Daley. And the black and twisted skeleton of the burnt stand stood out in the night. Below the seats were rows of litter which had piled up throughout the season, said witnesses. > Contacts> Join us> Circulars> Training courses> Sign up to Rollcall. "I looked up and saw the flames. The stand itself was engulfed in seconds, almost as if petrol had been ignited throughout the block. We accepted it was an accident, nobody wanted to blame the club because it was the club we wanted to support. A discarded cigarette and a dilapidated wooden stand, which had survived because the club did not have the money to replace it, and accumulated paper litter, were considered to have conspired to cause the worst disaster in the history of the Football League. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. "Since then I have thought of everything we could have done, but we didn't have the presence of mind to run across the pitch and tell people to get out. Today, locals continue to raise money for the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit in memory of the victims of the fire. Wealso use analytics cookies that don't track usersto help us improve it. 527 votes, 98 comments. 199 Bradford City Stadium Fire Photos and Premium High Res Pictures "We stayed in the pub for hours. 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. 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. More than 250 others were injured in one of the. 2022 DECOMPRESSION WAS DREAMY . After 40 minutes of the first half, fans had begun to complain about the drab match and the 0-0 score. Pendleton: "As I ran away I remember turning around and looking and just seeing this wall of grey smoke pouring out and pushing thousands of people in front of it. Supporters either ran upwards to the back of the stand or downwards to the pitch to escape. But I've never spoken to anyone who thought the fire wasn't anything other than a tragic accident. In March 1985 the club's plans became more apparent when it took delivery of steel for a new roof. "[28], West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council was found to have failed in its duty under the Fire Precautions Act 1971. "All you could see was black cloud. We were sat in our football kit, we didn't know what to do. [14] It took less than four minutes for the entire stand to be engulfed in flames.[11]. [8][10] Three men smashed down one door and at least one exit was opened by people outside, which again helped prevent further deaths. The sling is now used internationally in the treatment of burns. Bradford City stadium fire. A football match in Bradford UK ends Bradford City stadium fire: Remembering the 56 who died at Valley - IBT Burning Man - Wikipedia And all you could smell was burning.". 'I have to tell you that the fire was so intense that identifying people is going to be the great problem we have to face.'. [46], In 2014, the theatre company Funny You Should Ask (FYSA) premiered their heartfelt tribute to the 56 people who died at the fire. The heat inside the stand literally ignited people where they stood. 1.7M subscribers in the CatastrophicFailure community. Now they will begin another inquiry, into the cause of the Bradford fire. From 50 to 60 yards away, it was burning our faces it was unbearable. I have never had to deal with such a situation before, and this has put the city on its heels.'. And then suddenly, in the space of 120-odd seconds, it really kicked in. 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. "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 Bradford city stadium fire. 56 people died when a - reddit 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. 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! Those are the words of David Pendleton, a survivor of the Bradford City fire disaster, which happened 30 years ago. The stand had already been condemned, and the demolition teams were due to start work two days later. Within five minutes the whole stand was engulfed in flames. However, there is a lot in this book that troubles me about the science, or lack of it, used in the testing of the investigators' hypothesis as to the source of the ignition. The stand slopes downwards from the South Parade. Some repair work was carried out, but in July 1984 the club was warned again, this time by a county council engineer, because of the club's plans to claim for ground improvements from the Football Trust. We wanted to record the trophy presentation. Bradford City continues to support the burns unit at the University of Bradford as its official charity. We use necessary cookies to make our site work. His most recent painting is a powerful image; two fans in Bradford and Lincoln City kits, surrounded by 54 other figures. It spelt out 'thank you fans'. 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. BBC ON THIS DAY | 11 | 1985: Fans killed in Bradford stadium fire Since 1903, when the club was formed, Bradford City Association Football Club had played their home games at the ground. The Great Fire of London, 1212 | Sky HISTORY TV Channel The man in charge of investigating the fire, Detective Superintendent Kevin Cooper was at the game. At 3.40pm, five minutes before half-time, a glowing light was spotted three rows from the back of block G. "We were stood in line with the 18-yard, the penalty area, when we saw some smoke and a bit of fire diagonally from where we were. 'The fire just spread along the length of the stand in seconds. A police officer shouted to a colleague for an extinguisher, but his call was misheard and instead the fire brigade were radioed. All that was left of. [16] Messages of condolence were also received from Helmut Kohl, Chedli Klibi and Felipe Gonzlez. By the time they got back, the whole thing had taken off. Speculation an Australian man started the Bradford City stadium fire in 1985 IT killed 56 people and destroyed an entire stadium. However, the fire had consumed the stand entirely by that point and they were faced with huge flames and very dense smoke. The fact is that no one person was concerned with the safety of the premises. 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. "[16] As spectators began to cascade over the wall separating the stand from the pitch, the linesman on that side of the pitch informed referee Norman Glover, who stopped the game with three minutes remaining before half-time. The stadium was known for its antiquated design and facilities, which included the wooden roof of the main stand. 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. The Bradford way was keep it to ourselves - it worked collectively that we did that. 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. Burning Man.NYC. [32] Speaking at the close of the case, the Judge said "They (the club) were at fault, no one in authority seemed to have appreciated the fire hazard. However as the game against Lincoln progressed, a fire began just before half-time in the stand that ran alongside the pitch. [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. The playing area and stands were very basic but the ground had enough room for 18,000spectators. After Hillsborough, the Bradford City FC stadium fire was the second worst sporting tragedy in England, leaving 56 dead and at least 265 injured. Other parents whose children had not arrived home on Saturday called at the police station or sat in cars outside, waiting for news. "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 1985 Bradford City Stadium fire remembered - IFSEC Global It is not thought that there was any crowd trouble in this section but one theory the police are investigating is that a flare or smoke-bomb was thrown or was accidentally dropped. The man we see at 7:50 walking out onto the pitch on fire was a retired mill worker. Valley Parade re-opened on 14 December 1986, when Bradford City beat an England XI 21 in a friendly. Samuel Firth, a founder of the supporters' club, was the oldest victim at 86; four 11-year-old boys were the youngest. We went there to win the last game in front of a home crowd. "If we were fed a lie about it being an accident, then we will be educated. They were not able to use water on the stand immediately because this would have hampered attempts to rescue people being dragged by the police and friends from the stand. "As I ran away I remember turning around and looking and just seeing this wall of grey smoke pouring out and pushing thousands of people in front of it. All Rights Reserved. "How quickly the fire spread is difficult to convey to people.". His father Tony went back the following day and said: "I wondered how anybody had got out alive, but I also began to feel guilty that I had got out when so many hadn't." 24 Bradford City A.F.C. Martin Fletcher, a Bradford fan who lost three generations of his family in the fire, published a memoir of the tragic event called Fifty-Six The Story Of The Bradford Fire, in which he claimed the blaze at Valley Parade was one of nine fires at businesses owned by or associated with Heginbotham. No one gave it the attention it ought to have received.. .. Valley Parade in Bradford, West Yorkshire, was built in 1886 and was initially the home ground of Manningham Rugby Football Club. [8], The Bradford City matchday squad of players and staff consisted of Terry Yorath, Trevor Cherry, Chris Withe, Don Goodman, Eric McManus, Tony Clegg, John Hawley, Dave Evans, Bryan Edwards, John Hendrie, Mark Ellis, Stuart McCall, Peter Jackson, Bobby Campbell, Martin Singleton and Greg Abbott. It was a gruesome sight to see bodies still sitting upright in their seats, covered in tarpaulin. 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. [10] The stand seats did not have risers; this had allowed a large accumulation of rubbish and paper waste in the cavity space under the stand, which had not been cleared for many months. More than 200 people were taken to hospital, many with terrible injuries. Hideous images linger after carnage of 'celebration' day The speed at which fire engulfs the entire stand is insane. The club's success had swollen the crowd to 10,000 and arguments will rage about fire precautions at the ground. Grenfell among the UK's worst fire and tower tragedies "We wouldn't normally have covered that game - no question about it. 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. Mike Harrison, the editor of the Bradford City Football Club fanzine The City Gent, was there on the day. "When I got to one of the final walls, there was an eight-foot drop at the other side, concrete at the bottom. One elderly man started to walk across the pitch with his clothes and face ablaze. So I threw myself over the wall and luckily someone dived in to catch me before I hit the floor.". [40] Matthew Wildman was 17 at the time and needed crutches to walk because of rheumatoid arthritis. He photographed the blaze from start to finish and the police will use this as evidence when an inquest is held. 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. 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. Our world has a varied history full of terrible tragedies, bizarre tales, unexplained events, and extravagant people. Together, flanked by undocumented supporters, they managed to clear all but one person who made it to the front of the stand. [34], During the case, Sir Joseph Cantley stated that: "It is only right that I should say that I think it would be unfair to conclude that Heginbotham, Tordoff, the Board of Directors, or any of them, were intentionally and callously indifferent to the safety of spectators using the stand. "It is hard to imagine how Martin and his mother have managed to cope over the last 30 years and we have always respected him," Harrison says. At 3.40pm, television commentator John Helm remarked upon a small fire in the main stand; in less than four minutes, with the windy conditions, the fire had engulfed the whole stand, trapping some people in their seats. The game was irrelevant.". Fletcher has been the only survivor to publicly challenge the inquiry's findings. Former Bradford midfielder John Hendrie, who was playing in the match: "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. It is repeated across the country on BBC Two at 23:20 BST on Wednesday, 13 May. Tarpaulin fell on them and stuck to their clothes and then ignited. Wildman: "I was burnt from top to bottom, on and off. [4] Football ground writer Simon Inglis had described the view from the stand as "like watching football from the cockpit of a Sopwith Camel" because of its antiquated supports and struts. A minute later he saw a small plume of smoke so he poured his coffee on it and so did his son. I don't know where Falconer is getting this cock-and-bull story from the inaccuracies in this report [documentary] are dumbfounding.

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