burning man bradford city stadium fire

[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. 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. He photographed the blaze from start to finish and the police will use this as evidence when an inquest is held. Bradford City initially prospered in the Second Division only missing out on promotion to the First Division in 1988 after failing to beat Ipswich Town at home on the final day of their first full season back at Valley Parade. Website by, Bradford City FC stadium fire | 11th May 1985, Fundraising for firefighters and their families. A few minutes later, he felt a thump on his back from his father, who told him to run. Lincoln City chairman Bob Dorrian, centre, is joined by Former Imps Players Association chairman Trevor Swinburne, left, and chairman of the Red Imps. Bradford City players line up to observe a minutes silence for the 25th anniversary of the 1985 Bradford stadium fire prior to the Coca Cola League. [31] In 1988, the first compensation payments were made to survivors of the fire, with over 40 people receiving up to 40,000 each. 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. [3] It included a main stand which seated 5,300fans, and had room for a further 7,000 standing spectators in the paddock in front. "I looked up and saw the flames. The Popplewell Inquiry found that a discarded cigarette and an accumulation of litter beneath the stand were to blame. 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. 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. They wouldn't let us because then people would get in the way of fire engines, ambulances and police trying to get in. [45] In total, 28 police officers and 22 supporters, who were publicly documented as having saved at least one life, later received police commendations or bravery awards. There was a bit of paper on fire, but it was so small.". We had to run up the stairs, through the office doors and out on to the street. "The referee blew his whistle to stop the game and told us to get back to the dressing room.". 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. 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. 'This was a dreadful afternoon. 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. Thirty years on, the majority of survivors still find it too difficult to talk about what happened at the Valley Parade on 11 May 1985. And then suddenly, in the space of 120-odd seconds, it really kicked in. [5] However, he also warned the club of a build-up of litter beneath the stand because of a gap between the seats. ", IBT UK Morning Brief - Let the best of International News come to you. Only then do you realise the huge network of people the fire involved. Police officers also assisted in the rescue attempts. A giant Christian cross, made up of two large charred wooden members[44] that had once been part of the stand, was constructed in front of the middle of the stand and behind the pitchside speaker's platform. Fifty-six people were killed, 265 were injured and thousands bore witness to the worst fire disaster in the history of English football. "But the feeling here is that it is hard to believe that someone would purposefully start a fire. Wealso use analytics cookies that don't track usersto help us improve it. (2015), 2003 Football League Third Division play-off final, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bradford_City_stadium_fire&oldid=1141323458, Fire disasters involving barricaded escape routes, Pages containing London Gazette template with parameter supp set to y, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2010, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2021, Articles needing additional references from May 2018, All articles needing additional references, Articles needing additional references from December 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Fan attempted to extinguish a lit cigarette, it slipped through floorboards and fell on rubbish, igniting it. We didn't know how serious it was.". Called 'The 56' the play dramatises actual accounts of the Bradford City Fire with the purpose of the play showing how in times of adversity, the Football Club and the local community came together. The inquiry had found that the club had been warned that the accumulation of rubbish beneath the stands was a fire risk. Keep an eye out as you ride your bike through the city you will see a new solar-powered Man, fewer gas and . [57] Following the 30th anniversary of the fire, a number of news organisations named this man as Eric Bennett who was visiting his nephew in Bradford from Australia and attended the game on the day. ", "There was a throw-in in front of the stand where the fire started - something caught my eye. 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. Burning timbers and molten materials fell from the roof onto the crowd and seating below, and dense black smoke enveloped a passageway behind the stand, where many spectators were trying to escape. "Some of the local residents opened their houses so people could make phone calls. It occurred during a league match in front of record numbers of spectators, on Saturday, 11 May 1985, killing 56 and injuring at least 265. Like you, we're already preparing for Black Rock City to rise again. 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. [56], On 17 April 2015, retired Detective Inspector Raymond Falconer, in a report by the Bradford Telegraph and Argus, said the police were aware of an Australian man who admitted to starting the fire. 2022 DECOMPRESSION WAS DREAMY . The Bradford City disaster took place on Saturday May 11, 1985 when a flash fire occurred at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, England. "The fire still has a big impact on people," Parker says. 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 . Police worked until 4am the next morning, under lighting, to remove all the bodies. 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. We sat in the main stand the week before, but we had decided to move on that day," he says. > Contacts> Join us> Circulars> Training courses> Sign up to Rollcall. 56 dead and hundreds more injured. '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.'. Tarpaulin fell on them and stuck to their clothes and then ignited. " Burning Man," " Burning Man Project," " Black Rock City ", and . "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. As the blaze spread, the wooden stands and roofcovered with layers of highly flammable bituminous roofing feltquickly went ablaze. But the sheer density of numbers coupled with the thick, choking smoke made people collapse. The match was recorded by Yorkshire Television for their regional edition of the ITV Sunday afternoon football show The Big Match. A fire at a third division match between Bradford City and Lincoln City killed 56, including 11 children, and injured hundreds more. "[59], Raymond Falconer's reliability had previously been questioned by Daniel Taylor in The Guardian who stated that: "The Bradford Telegraph and Argus described him as a 'top detective'. We wanted to record the trophy presentation. [11], The fire escalated very rapidly, and flames became visible; police started to evacuate the stand. Former Bradford midfielder John Hendrie, who was playing in the match: "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. Pendleton: "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. All Rights Reserved. At the time, however, Harrison says, Bradford just wanted to move on. As we move ahead on the 2030 Sustainability Roadmap, sustainability projects are taking center stage. "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. The stand had already been condemned, and the demolition teams were due to start work two days later. [14] It took less than four minutes for the entire stand to be engulfed in flames.[11]. Christmas Day is supposed to be happy and pleasant, a time to gather with loved ones for a chill and relaxing celebration. There were queues of people outside houses, which obviously wouldn't happen nowadays. Some had been crushed as they tried to crawl under turnstiles to escape. Watch Missed Warnings on BBC One in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire at 22:45 BST on Tuesday, 12 May. One retired mill worker made his way to the pitch, but was walking about on fire from head to foot. [22], Immediately after the fire, Sharpe planned and treated the injuries of over 200 individuals, with many experimental treatments being used. Supporters either ran upwards to the back of the stand or downwards to the pitch to escape. Pendleton: "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. I was there in hospital for eight weeks - it felt like a lifetime. 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.. There were many cases of heroism, with more than 50 people later receiving police awards or commendations for bravery. [8][10] Three men smashed down one door and at least one exit was opened by people outside, which again helped prevent further deaths. When cross examined by QC Robert Smith, then Chairman Stafford Heginbotham said he knew about the fire risk at the ground. Together, flanked by undocumented supporters, they managed to clear all but one person who made it to the front of the stand. 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. Once we went out it was mayhem, manic, chaotic. 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. "It made me realise life is too short." The stand itself was engulfed in seconds, almost as if petrol had been ignited throughout the block. And the black and twisted skeleton of the burnt stand stood out in the night. 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 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. 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. He went on to state: "In 1985 fire investigation in Britain was in its infancy and some would say at that time most fire investigators were not much more than dust-kickers. Valley Parade re-opened on 14 December 1986, when Bradford City beat an England XI 21 in a friendly. Most of those who escaped onto the pitch were saved.[10]. "We went out on to the pitch and I could see so many happy faces. 1.7M subscribers in the CatastrophicFailure community. It is a simple account laid out for all to see. "It is unbelievable how quickly the fire took hold. [39], The club's chairman, Stafford Heginbotham, said: "It was to be our day". "[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. 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. I have never had to deal with such a situation before, and this has put the city on its heels.'. "A disaster is not black and white - it is a mass of factors.". [] I still have terrible memories of the day, but it is the humanity of those that helped us that I reflect on."[41]. Bradford City were supposed to be celebrating on 11 May 1985. "How quickly the fire spread is difficult to convey to people.". The 51 other bodies of children, women and men were so badly burned that identification will take many days. 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. It was during this treatment that Sharpe began to develop the Bradford Sling,[21] which applies even pressure across sensitive areas. Spreading with almost unbelievable speed, a small fire under a wooden. 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. It seemed to put it out. But all the people being treated, we formed a family, a bond.". No fire extinguishers had been installed over fears of vandalism and less than four minutes after the fire was reported, the fire had engulfed the whole stand. While Valley Parade was re-developed, Bradford City played games at various neighbouring grounds: Elland Road, Leeds; Leeds Road, Huddersfield; and Odsal Stadium, Bradford. ", Popplewell: "I'm sorry to spoil what is obviously a very good story, but I'm afraid it is nonsense for many reasons.". The sling is now used internationally in the treatment of burns. 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. 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. Police removed the last body from the ground at 4 am yesterday, working under arc lights. They were donated by Bradford's twin city of Hamm, Germany, and are situated in front of Bradford City Hall in both locations. 05/10/15 AT 12:00 PM BST Crowds on the pitch at Bradford City's Valley Parade stadium after the stand caught fire Getty Images Fifty-six people were killed, 265 were injured and thousands. "I remember not being able to watch it, but we couldn't get out. It remains to be seen whether a new investigation will take place. Now they will begin another inquiry, into the cause of the Bradford fire. 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. "I parked my van outside because I started making enough money painting as I was in construction. The blaze quickly engulfed the stand as Bradford played Lincoln City and claimed the lives of 59 people on May 11, 1985. "For the first minute people were laughing and joking, it wasn't anything serious. [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. It is impossible so far to be accurate about the precise cause of the fire, with grossly conflicting reports from witnesses. 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." Today marks the 35th anniversary of one of the worst disasters in the history of British football.