I was there in hospital for eight weeks - it felt like a lifetime. The 1984-85 season had been one of the most successful in Bradford City's 82-year history. The man we see at 7:50 walking out onto the pitch on fire was a retired mill worker. ', Bradford City Fire Website messages of condolence from around the world, "Chuckle Brothers' single for Bradford City fire anniversary", "Bradford City stadium fire: The untold stories of the 1985 fire", "Emotive play of Bradford City fire disaster raises cash for burns unit", "Book Review: Four Minutes to Hell: The Story of the Bradford City Fire by Paul Firth football book reviews", "Football Focus 1st May 2010 Bradford City Part 1", Bradford City A year of healing Documentary, "Bradford fire: expert demands new investigation into blaze", "Bradford City stadium fire 1985 IPCC investigation decision", "BRADFORD CITY FIRE: Accidental cause of tragedy 'not in any doubt', says detective", "Bradford City fire 'started by cigarette', "Bradford City fire: Briton attacks 'inaccurate' BBC documentary claiming his uncle started blaze", "Bradford fire: Sir Oliver Popplewell defends 1985 inquiry interview in full", Living with Jacko From Touchline to Lifeline, Fifty-Six: The Story of the Bradford Fire, The full Interim Report by Lord Popplewell into the Bradford City Fire, British Medical Journal article on the treatment of burns casualties after the Bradford City Fire, Peter Jackson's account of the Bradford City Fire, Nationally broadcast Yorkshire Television programme covering the fire, broadcast the following day, ITN bulletin covering the fire, also from the following day, ITN bulletin covering the aftermath, from three days later, Chelsea F.C. Fire kills 50 at soccer stadium - HISTORY He was helped out of the stand by other fans and spent a period of time in hospital. The club's success had swollen the crowd to 10,000 and arguments will rage about fire precautions at the ground. [4], Although there had been some changes to other parts of the ground, the main stand remained unaltered by 1985. Wealso use analytics cookies that don't track usersto help us improve it. 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. An ancient wooden spectator stand and a dropped cigarette - the ingredients for one of Britain's deadliest soccer tragedies. Those with longer memories will also think of the Ibrox disaster of . Most Bradfordians have accepted the fire was a terrible misfortune. Lincoln City chairman Bob Dorrian, centre, is joined by Former Imps Players Association chairman Trevor Swinburne, left, and chairman of the Red Imps. Coach Terry Yorath described the events as "the worst day in my life. [10] Bradford City's coach Terry Yorath, whose family was in the stand,[19] ran onto the pitch to help evacuate people. 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. 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. The game was irrelevant.". "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. 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. The name of the event comes from its culminating ceremony: the symbolic burning of a large wooden effigy, referred to as the Man, that occurs on the penultimate night of Burning Man, which is the Saturday evening before Labor Day. "The letters that went to the club, the council's failings, the police's failings, even as supporters we allowed a culture where the gates were locked. Bradford council introduced its emergency plans procedure yesterday to give aid to many families affected by the disaster. More than 3,500 people were crammed into the main stand area and this prevented people from moving away from the blaze quickly. Others ran forward to try to clamber over a fence and a small wall on to the pitch. Fifty-six people were killed, 265 were injured and thousands bore witness to the worst fire disaster in the history of English football. The Man burns on September 02, 2023. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. 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. 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. 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. The match between Bradford City and Lincoln City, the final game of that season, had started in a celebratory atmosphere with the home team receiving the Third Division championship trophy. 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. All that was left of. ", "If the inquiry is opened again, we will await to see what evidence there is to prove is wasn't an accident," he says. 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 City fire was started by a tourist who dropped a cigarette And then suddenly, in the space of 120-odd seconds, it really kicked in. This included the banning of new wooden grandstands at all sports venues in the UK. The Great Fire of London, 1212 | Sky HISTORY TV Channel The playing area and stands were very basic but the ground had enough room for 18,000spectators. It was clear from what the Chief Fire Officer for West Yorkshire, Mr Graham Karran, said yesterday that the ground was far from safe. 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. 2022 DECOMPRESSION WAS DREAMY . The only fire extinguishers in the ground were in the clubroom, which is also in the main stand. 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. [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. It detailed the safety work which would be carried out at Valley Parade as a result of the club's promotion, admitting the ground was "inadequate in so many ways for modern requirements". Burning Man.NYC. Helm: "There was a throw-in in front of the stand where the fire started - something caught my eye. Bradford City Fire disaster: 36 years on the city's pioneering burns 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. 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. 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. Bradford fire: The Valley Parade disaster 30 years on It remains to be seen whether a new investigation will take place. Of the 56people who died in the fire,[2] 54 were Bradford supporters and two supported Lincoln. 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. Guided by the values expressed by the 10 Principles, Burning Man is a global ecosystem of artists, makers, and community organizers who co-create art, events, and local initiatives around the world. Police had an official photographer at the game, watching for crowd disturbance. We wanted to record the trophy presentation. The Popplewell Inquiry found that the club had been warned about the fire risk that the rubbish accumulating under the stand had posed. All Rights Reserved. There were queues of people outside houses, which obviously wouldn't happen nowadays. [11], The disaster also had a long-lasting effect on the fans. Fifty people die in a fire in the grandstand at a soccer stadium in Bradford, England, on May 11, 1985. 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. 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. Radiated heat from the burning roof of the stand set fire to the clothing of fans trapped underneath. It made me realise life is too short and I'm a happier person for it.". 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. Someone came in and shouted: 'Get out, get out there's a fire'. The 1985 Bradford City Stadium fire remembered - IFSEC Global 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. There were no fire extinguishers. [8][10] Three men smashed down one door and at least one exit was opened by people outside, which again helped prevent further deaths. ", "There was a throw-in in front of the stand where the fire started - something caught my eye. "I saw people die in the stand - but it was only until then that I realised the scale of it.". "It wasn't covering anything up, it wasn't avoiding the truth of what happened, everyone knows what happened, everyone knows it shouldn't have happened. The stand itself was engulfed in seconds, almost as if petrol had been ignited throughout the block. " Burning Man," " Burning Man Project," " Black Rock City ", and . "A disaster is not black and white - it is a mass of factors.". [14] It took less than four minutes for the entire stand to be engulfed in flames.[11]. Hendrie: "Several minutes before half-time I saw there was a wee bit of bother. "For the first minute people were laughing and joking, it wasn't anything serious. "Until I arrived home my mum and my brother had no idea whether I was alive or dead. Bradford City stadium fire: The untold stories of the 1985 fire The team's coach, Mr Terry Yorath, ran on to the pitch to try to help people away from the stand. I had no idea. Brooklyn fire: Lumber storage warehouse in Williamsburg goes up in The Bradford way was keep it to ourselves - it worked collectively that we did that. 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'. An ancient wooden spectator stand and a dropped cigarette - the ingredients for one of Britain's deadliest soccer tragedies. Since 1903, when the club was formed, Bradford City Association Football Club had played their home games at the ground. He saw smoke coming from a small area of the stand and thought that someone had let off a flare. The Bradford city stadium fire. 56 people died when a - reddit Some people seem to have run back up the slope, thinking that they could get back through the turnstiles, and were burned alive. And then suddenly, in the space of 120-odd seconds, it really kicked in. 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 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]. Supporters either ran upwards to the back of the stand or downwards to the pitch to escape. Below the seats were rows of litter which had piled up throughout the season, said witnesses. Bradford city council officials, off-duty policemen and guests from Bradford 's twin town, Munchengladbach, were there to celebrate. Only then do you realise the huge network of people the fire involved. We were sat in our football kit, we didn't know what to do. Funnily enough I was thinking 'I'm going to miss the second half at this rate'. I rolled over on my head, jumped up and ran off.". "I was operated on every other day because I had so many burns and so many areas to work on. ", IBT UK Morning Brief - Let the best of International News come to you. [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. 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?. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. 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. 1908 - Collinwood school fire, in Collinwood, Ohio (soon absorbed by Cleveland ), on March 4, killed 175. The fire started five minutes before half-time during the match on 11 May between Bradford and Lincoln City. "I was in the main stand when the fire happened," he says.
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