The stadium was known for its antiquated design and facilities, which included the wooden roof of the main stand. A few minutes later, he felt a thump on his back from his father, who told him to run. Hundreds more telephoned the police to try to trace relatives. "The scene became progressively horrendous, grotesque, and I was having to describe things you couldn't possibly imagine.". 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 worked until 4am the next morning, under lighting, to remove all the bodies. [46], In 2014, the theatre company Funny You Should Ask (FYSA) premiered their heartfelt tribute to the 56 people who died at the fire. You could hardly breathe. "I was in the main stand when the fire happened," he says. We couldn't breathe. Bradford city council officials, off-duty policemen and guests from Bradford 's twin town, Munchengladbach, were there to celebrate. Those with longer memories will also think of the Ibrox disaster of . Burning Man Countdown | Burning Man When Town reached the Midland Road side of the pitch, he was faced with horrific scenes of the injured being treated and comforted by ambulance crews, fans and players. 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. Wildman: "I was burnt from top to bottom, on and off. The club's success had swollen the crowd to 10,000 and arguments will rage about fire precautions at the ground. [] I still have terrible memories of the day, but it is the humanity of those that helped us that I reflect on."[41]. 1909 - Flores Theater fire, Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico, on February 15, killed 250. "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. 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. Last updated on 10 May 201510 May 2015.From the section Football, "People didn't die because of fires at football grounds. Many who had walked out of the fire stood on the pitch looking back in horror as the flames destroyed the stand. They wouldn't let us because then people would get in the way of fire engines, ambulances and police trying to get in. We use necessary cookies to make our site work. "A lot of investigative work had been done by the police when I got there. This day was for them. Now a new film claims an Australian was responsible for the worst . "[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'. Loading. [40] Matthew Wildman was 17 at the time and needed crutches to walk because of rheumatoid arthritis. The Bradford Disaster Appeal fund, set up within 48hours of the disaster, eventually raised over 3.5million (11.3million today). I ran to the stand and tried to help people escape. "I saw people die in the stand - but it was only until then that I realised the scale of it.". 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. Once we went out it was mayhem, manic, chaotic. [11], The disaster also had a long-lasting effect on the fans. Most of the fans who took this escape route were killed or seriously injured. An ancient wooden spectator stand and a dropped cigarette - the ingredients for one of Britain's deadliest soccer tragedies. 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. We were given the trophy before the game in front of the supporters and had to do a lap of honour. "We went out on to the pitch and I could see so many happy faces. I asked the director to get the camera to go a little closer. "I remember not being able to watch it, but we couldn't get out. It was nearly double the season's average of 6,610 and included 3,000fans in the ground's main stand. I hope you enjoy some of the fascinating stories we have here.#History #Disasters "I want the truth to be out, the myths to be broken, so that I can get on with my life rather than knowing this information and having to live with this information. Bradford City stadium fire: BBC documentary says Aussie man to blame Helm: "There was a throw-in in front of the stand where the fire started - something caught my eye. The 51 other bodies of children, women and men were so badly burned that identification will take many days. 1908 - Collinwood school fire, in Collinwood, Ohio (soon absorbed by Cleveland ), on March 4, killed 175. At the final home match against Barnsley at the end of April, Bradford City fans collected more than 8,000 in a bucket collection. The man in charge of investigating the fire, Detective Superintendent Kevin Cooper was at the game. Those are the words of David Pendleton, a survivor of the Bradford City fire disaster, which happened 30 years ago. "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. "Several minutes before half-time I saw there was a wee bit of bother. 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. 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? The entrances to the stand were all at the rear and were higher than the rest of the ground. [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. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. As he received the injured at Bradford Royal Infirmary he was able to call upon 10% of the UK's population of plastic surgeons. 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. 199 Bradford City Stadium Fire Photos and Premium High Res Pictures The Man burns on September 02, 2023. **The Bradford City Stadium Tragedy** - Firehouse [11], The fire escalated very rapidly, and flames became visible; police started to evacuate the stand. It wasn't until later on when assistant manager Terry Yorath came in and said: 'It's not good.'". Another player went into the office space to ensure there was nobody there. It was unprecedented.". Former Bradford midfielder John Hendrie, who was playing in the match: "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. Original television coverage of the fire, as caught by cameras covering the match. 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. I had to put my jumper over his hair to put the blaze out. He was actually one of the detectives involved in one of the gravest miscarriages of justices in the country, the murder of Carol Wilkinson in Bradford, where someone was locked up for 20 years for a murder he didn't commit."[60]. Bradford fire 11.5.1985.mpg - video Dailymotion It was an awful thing to watch.". People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. It was sort of the good thing to come out of the nightmare," says Simon Parker, a football reporter for the Telegraph and Argus. The fire at a Brooklyn lumber storage building sent plumes of smoke over Williamsburg on Tuesday. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. Bradford council introduced its emergency plans procedure yesterday to give aid to many families affected by the disaster. The fact is that no one person was concerned with the safety of the premises. "All you could see was black cloud. The stand had been officially condemned and was due to be replaced with a steel structure after the season ended. Today, locals continue to raise money for the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit in memory of the victims of the fire. Bradford City Fire disaster: 36 years on the city's pioneering burns [6] 1908 - Parker Building, New York City, January 10. Mr Delahunte was screaming into his microphone describing the scene until it became impossible to continue broadcasting. Parents and children were laughing and joking with the police as the preliminaries to the game began. Most recognizably, tens of thousands of Burners gather annually to build Black Rock City, a participative temporary metropolis . ", On 26 January 2016, the IPCC declined calls for an investigation and published its full response online. 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. After Hillsborough, the Bradford City FC stadium fire was the second worst sporting tragedy in England, leaving 56 dead and at least 265 injured. 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. The game was irrelevant. "I've always loved art but I owned businesses in construction so I've never had the time or a chance to follow it up," he says. Bradford City Stadium Fire: The Forgotten Fire Tragedy of 1985 that He later died in hospital. Like all areas of forensic investigations, it has come on leaps and bounds. "I'm sorry to spoil what is obviously a very good story, but I'm afraid it is nonsense for many reasons.". The mood before the match on the 11 May 1985 against Lincoln City was one of jubilation. There was a bit of paper on fire, but it was so small.". It remains to be seen whether a new investigation will take place. Yet many of those with terrible memories of the tragedy also take heart in the compassion born out of the devastation. [10] Bradford City's coach Terry Yorath, whose family was in the stand,[19] ran onto the pitch to help evacuate people. Four police officers, constables David Britton and John Richard Ingham and chief inspectors Charles Frederick Mawson and Terence Michael Slocombe, and two spectators, Richard Gough and David Hustler, were awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal for their actions. Steel was to be installed in the roof,[8] and the wooden terracing was to be replaced with concrete. Fifty-six people died. Spread by the wind, the wooden roof, which was covered with tarpaulin and sealed with asphalt and bitumen, caught fire. BBC Sport looks back at the Bradford City fire disaster that claimed the lives of 56 spectators when a stand became engulfed in flames on 11 May 1985. [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. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Revealed: former Bradford chairman linked to at least eight fires before Valley Parade disaster, Martin Fletcher: Maybe the reason I am here is to finally reveal the truth, TheStory of the Bradford Fire: could any man really be as unlucky as Stafford Heginbotham?. 'They did not have a chance. Bradford City fire: Police reveal who was responsible for 1985 Valley 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. It was a gruesome sight to see bodies still sitting upright in their seats, covered in tarpaulin. [16] Messages of condolence were also received from Helmut Kohl, Chedli Klibi and Felipe Gonzlez. A Bradford Disaster Appeal Fund raised 3.5m for the victims and their families. 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. Below the seats were rows of litter which had piled up throughout the season, said witnesses. Martin Fletcher was talking to BBC Look North. When cross examined by QC Robert Smith, then Chairman Stafford Heginbotham said he knew about the fire risk at the ground. Representatives from the fire brigade were due to go to the club tomorrow to inspect it and see whether regulations were being observed. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire - HISTORY Christmas Day is supposed to be happy and pleasant, a time to gather with loved ones for a chill and relaxing celebration. The plastic surgeon who treated the injuries of over 200, Professor David Sharpe, went on to set up a world-renowned burns research facility at the University of Bradford. As the blaze spread, the wooden stands and roofcovered with layers of highly flammable bituminous roofing feltquickly went ablaze. Fletcher, who was 12 at the time of the fire, does not make any direct allegations but he does believe Heginbotham's history with fires resulting in payouts of around 27m in today's terms warrants further investigation. It is impossible so far to be accurate about the precise cause of the fire, with grossly conflicting reports from witnesses. What Is Burning Man? | Burning Man 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. People were wandering around outside the ground in disbelief, reminiscent of an air disaster, at what had happened the day before. On 11 May 1985 a blaze ripped through Bradford City stadium's wooden structure in minutes as the club played Lincoln City in an end of season match. 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. Bits of my arms, bits of my legs, part of my face, part of my scalp. 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. A police officer shouted to a colleague for an extinguisher, but his call was misheard and instead the fire brigade were radioed. "[16] At the front of the stand, men threw children over the wall to help them escape. Spreading with almost unbelievable speed, a small fire under a wooden. More than 250 others were injured in one of the biggest disasters at a British football ground. While Valley Parade was re-developed, Bradford City played games at various neighbouring grounds: Elland Road, Leeds; Leeds Road, Huddersfield; and Odsal Stadium, Bradford. There is no malicious vendetta, there is no over-exaggeration, there are no trumped-up facts. Helm: "The scene became progressively horrendous, grotesque, and I was having to describe things you couldn't possibly imagine.". Keep an eye out as you ride your bike through the city you will see a new solar-powered Man, fewer gas and . 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. We had not been told anything.". 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. "The referee blew his whistle to stop the game and told us to get back to the dressing room.". His son Christopher normally watches from the stand but on Saturday he joined other fans elsewhere. [10] The call was timed at 3:43pm. However, when Bradford City won promotion to the highest level of English football, Division One, in 1908, club officials sanctioned an upgrade programme. "Us players must have been in the tunnel for seconds - and I mean seconds. 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. "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. 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One retired mill worker made his way to the pitch, but was walking about on fire from head to foot. People had walked through turnstiles and along a wooden corridor before descending the steps into their seats. ", Hendrie: "We stayed in the pub for hours. The fire started five minutes before half-time during the match on 11 May between Bradford and Lincoln City. She was an. Then the flames and smoke were all over the place.'. > Contacts> Join us> Circulars> Training courses> Sign up to Rollcall. It is a simple account laid out for all to see. "[33], Central to the test case were two letters sent to Bradford City's Club Secretary by the West Yorkshire Fire Brigade; the second letter dated 18 July 1984 specifically highlighted in full the improvements needed to be actioned at the ground as well as the fire risk at the main stand. He was helped out of the stand by other fans and spent a period of time in hospital. 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'. 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. One woman was seen running around the ground with no skin on her arms and face. "I know it's a clich to say that, but it's true.". Following his own 15 year investigation Into the fire, which killed four of his family members while he escaped, former tax accountant Martin Fletcher released 56: The Story of the Bradford Fire (2015). Bradford fire: the horrors and the silence that had to be broken "When I got to one of the final walls, there was an eight-foot drop at the other side, concrete at the bottom. The money raised from this record was contributed to fund the internationally renowned burns unit that was established in partnership between the University of Bradford and Bradford Royal Infirmary, immediately after the fire, which has also been Bradford City's official charity for well over a decade. 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. "For the first minute people were laughing and joking, it wasn't anything serious. Somebody looked round and grabbed me by the hood of my coat to pull me over. It is repeated across the country on BBC Two at 23:20 BST on Wednesday, 13 May. 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 scene when I arrived was horrendous. Football architect Archibald Leitch was commissioned to carry out the work. We went there to win the last game in front of a home crowd. It was during this treatment that Sharpe began to develop the Bradford Sling,[21] which applies even pressure across sensitive areas. Within a few hours of the blaze starting, it was established that 56 people had been killed, many as a result of smoke inhalation, although some of them had survived until reaching hospital.[11]. Pendleton: "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. The stand had no perimeter fencing to keep fans from accessing the pitch, thus averting an instance of crush asphyxia as in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.