burning man bradford city stadium fire
Most recognizably, tens of thousands of Burners gather annually to build Black Rock City, a participative temporary metropolis . [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. Then the flames and smoke were all over the place.'. Fifty-six people died. 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. The Bradford Burns Unit was set up by Professor David Sharpe after he received many of the victims following the fire. 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." [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. 1908 - Rhoads Opera House fire, Boyertown, Pennsylvania, killed 170. Supporters either ran upwards to the back of the stand or downwards to the pitch to escape. [19] One fan put his jumper over a fellow supporter's head to extinguish flames. [4], Although there had been some changes to other parts of the ground, the main stand remained unaltered by 1985. The entrances to the stand were all at the rear and were higher than the rest of the ground. The scene in there was one of silence and shock. The smoke was choking. 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]. We couldn't breathe. Your brain tells you, you are not going anywhere. Many were burnt to death at the turnstiles gates, which had also been locked after the match had begun. "It's therapeutic and I've met so many people through doing this." The man in charge of investigating the fire, Detective Superintendent Kevin Cooper was at the game. Yet many of those with terrible memories of the tragedy also take heart in the compassion born out of the devastation. 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. "Several minutes before half-time I saw there was a wee bit of bother. After Hillsborough, the Bradford City FC stadium fire was the second worst sporting tragedy in England, leaving 56 dead and at least 265 injured. I had no idea. "I was supposed to meet my father at my grandfather's house, but I was a bit late so I went straight to the game so I didn't miss the festivities.". I looked down and I saw my hands melting. The fire started five minutes before half-time during the match on 11 May between Bradford and Lincoln City. 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. "The scene became progressively horrendous, grotesque, and I was having to describe things you couldn't possibly imagine.". Speculation an Australian man started the Bradford City stadium fire in 1985 IT killed 56 people and destroyed an entire stadium. "[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. [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. And then suddenly, in the space of 120-odd seconds, it really kicked in. But all the people being treated, we formed a family, a bond.". Pendleton: "Many people still don't want to talk about the disaster. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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? Ironically, off-duty firemen were at the ground selling raffle tickets for a charity football match which should have been held yesterday. He agreed that the inquiry into Bradford, led by the judge Oliver Popplewell, was inadequate and that there are many unanswered questions. ", 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. 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'. 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 had not been told anything.". 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. "We wouldn't normally have covered that game - no question about it. Each year Lincoln send representatives to the annual memorial service in Bradford city centre and between 2007 and 2009, were managed by Bradford's captain that day, Peter Jackson. 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. Steel was to be installed in the roof,[8] and the wooden terracing was to be replaced with concrete. The game was irrelevant. 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?. He is quoted as saying: "I don't believe the statement of retired Detective Inspector Raymond Falconer at all. Those are the words of David Pendleton, a survivor of the Bradford City fire disaster, which happened 30 years ago. "The fire still has a big impact on people," Parker says. [1] When the association football club was formed, the ground was changed very little and had no covered accommodation. 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. The government inquiry into the disaster concluded the fire spread "faster than a man could run". 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 . However as the game against Lincoln progressed, a fire began just before half-time in the stand that ran alongside the pitch. Then flames licked the underside of the seats, which were a combination of wood and plastic. [16] Messages of condolence were also received from Helmut Kohl, Chedli Klibi and Felipe Gonzlez. 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. England won the re-match 64. [6], The 198485 season had been one of Bradford City's most successful seasons, ending with City clinching the championship title courtesy of a 20 victory against Bolton Wanderers in the penultimate game of the season. "How quickly the fire spread is difficult to convey to people.". 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. Exactly 79 years to the day after the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, another tragic fire occurred in New York City. An ancient wooden spectator stand and a dropped cigarette - the ingredients for one of Britain's deadliest soccer tragedies. [] I still have terrible memories of the day, but it is the humanity of those that helped us that I reflect on."[41]. Among the main outcomes of the inquiry were the banning of new wooden grandstands at all UK sports grounds, the immediate closure of other wooden stands deemed unsafe and the banning of smoking in other wooden stands. 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. We wanted to record the trophy presentation. The scene in there was one of silence and shock. Once we went out it was mayhem, manic, chaotic. 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. The Bradford City disaster took place on Saturday May 11, 1985 when a flash fire occurred at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, England. Your brain tells you, you are not going anywhere. 1.7M subscribers in the CatastrophicFailure community. 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. 'I think that is unlikely,' he said. They were donated by Bradford's twin city of Hamm, Germany, and are situated in front of Bradford City Hall in both locations. People had walked through turnstiles and along a wooden corridor before descending the steps into their seats. Hendrie: "Us players must have been in the tunnel for seconds - and I mean seconds. 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. There was some kind of disturbance near the edge of a block of seats in the G section of the main stand. The blaze is believed to have begun when a dropped cigarette lit rubbish under the wooden seats of the wooden Main Stand at Bradford City's Valley Parade stadium Just look at how many people were standing around just 50-60 meters away from the blazing inferno. Some days I had two operations in a day. Club coach Terry Yorath incurred minor injuries while taking part in the rescue. They wouldn't let us because then people would get in the way of fire engines, ambulances and police trying to get in. "[28], West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council was found to have failed in its duty under the Fire Precautions Act 1971. Twenty nine years ago on this date, 56 people tragically died when a fire erupted at Bradford City's Valley Parade ground The day was supposed to be one of celebration for Bradford who had just won the Third Division trophy. 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 timber construction of St. Andrew's Stand, Main Stand and the roof of its popular Railway End terrace were immediately condemned as fire hazards, which saw seating capacity briefly cut to nil. As many supporters still required rescue from the stand, they were unable to immediately start fighting the source of the fire. 'They did not have a chance. 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. 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. Valley Parade re-opened on 14 December 1986, when Bradford City beat an England XI 21 in a friendly. " Burning Man," " Burning Man Project," " Black Rock City ", and . I hope you enjoy some of the fascinating stories we have here.#History #Disasters 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. [10] Of those who died, 11 were under-18 and 23 were aged 65 or over,[20] and the oldest victim was the club's former chairman, Sam Firth, aged 86. 1908 - Collinwood school fire, in Collinwood, Ohio (soon absorbed by Cleveland ), on March 4, killed 175. His face was burned and his car, which he had parked outside the ground, was destroyed. While Valley Parade was re-developed, Bradford City played games at various neighbouring grounds: Elland Road, Leeds; Leeds Road, Huddersfield; and Odsal Stadium, Bradford. It was fairly clear that somebody had dropped a lighted match or cigarette between the floorboards.". Those with longer memories will also think of the Ibrox disaster of . [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. [47] Scriptwriters of the play spent hours with the survivors and victims families. Led by former England international Trevor Cherry, the Bantams won only their third divisional title and earned a return to the second tier of English football for the first time since 1937. "I feel such information should be made public and people should look at those facts, then make their mind up on those facts. 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. [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. [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. They stood outside the headquarters, staring at nothing in particular. 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. He later said: "I have never known anything like it, either before, or since. 'It is the worst day in my life. It was nearly double the season's average of 6,610 and included 3,000fans in the ground's main stand. The blaze, at the Happy Land Social Club in the Bronx, killed 87 people, the . Helm: "The scene became progressively horrendous, grotesque, and I was having to describe things you couldn't possibly imagine.". Some people seem to have run back up the slope, thinking that they could get back through the turnstiles, and were burned alive. 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. Parents and children were laughing and joking with the police as the preliminaries to the game began. As we move ahead on the 2030 Sustainability Roadmap, sustainability projects are taking center stage. 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. One letter from the council said the problems "should be rectified as soon as possible"; a second said: "A carelessly discarded cigarette could give rise to a fire risk." Police officers also assisted in the rescue attempts. "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 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. More than 3,500 people were crammed into the main stand area and this prevented people from moving away from the blaze quickly. It seemed to put it out. "But the feeling here is that it is hard to believe that someone would purposefully start a fire. "As a 15-year-old, you don't really know how much of an impact an event like that will have on your life," Town says. People were clambering over the wall on to the ground with their clothes and hair on fire. 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'. [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. [53], In 1986, a year after the disaster, Yorkshire Television aired a documentary presented by John Helm entitled Bradford City A Year of Healing. We went there to win the last game in front of a home crowd. 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. However, as there was no real precedent, most Bradfordians accepted that the fire was a terrible piece of misfortune. The stand had already been condemned, and the demolition teams were due to start work two days later. 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. Cigarette smoking was also banned at all grounds with wooden stands. Someone came in and shouted: 'Get out, get out there's a fire'. I saw one man lying on the ground, burning from head to foot. 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. Stories From 11 May. 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. There were queues of people outside houses, which obviously wouldn't happen nowadays. We accepted it was an accident, nobody wanted to blame the club because it was the club we wanted to support. [15] They included three who tried to escape through the toilets, 27 who were found by exit K and turnstiles 6 to 9 at the rear centre of the stand, and two elderly people who had died in their seats. A Bradford Disaster Appeal Fund raised 3.5m for the victims and their families. [10][11], Bradford's Telegraph & Argus newspaper published a souvenir issue for 11 May, entitled, "Spit and Polish for the Parade Ground". The main stand at Valley Parade burned down after what was thought to be a dropped cigarette led to flames which engulfed the entire wooden structure. She was an. Everybody in the city was devastated, but there was an amazing number of volunteers. "If we were fed a lie about it being an accident, then we will be educated. "I parked my van outside because I started making enough money painting as I was in construction. It wasn't just something that happened in the past.". 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. Most of those who escaped onto the pitch were saved.[10]. It slipped through a hole in the floorboard. It was a gruesome sight to see bodies still sitting upright in their seats, covered in tarpaulin. At Valley Parade there are now two memorials. This day was for them. Copyright , Fire Brigades Union, 2023. The heat was so intense it caused car windows to shatter in the street. He asks the reader to make their mind up about whether these fires were a coincidence or not.". You may notice some big changes in Black Rock City this year. 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. [10] One eyewitness, Geoffrey Mitchell, told the BBC: "It spread like a flash. A fire at a third division match between Bradford City and Lincoln City killed 56, including 11 children, and injured hundreds more. 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 local council was deemed to be one third responsible. "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. Wildman: "I was burnt from top to bottom, on and off. 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. 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. 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. Our world has a varied history full of terrible tragedies, bizarre tales, unexplained events, and extravagant people. One man in tears said: 'He looked as if he was just going for a stroll. ', Sports reporters covering the game also spoke of the disaster. 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. Bradford, playing into a strong wind, were struggling to break down a Lincoln side already safe from relegation. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. [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. "[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'. Bradford City were supposed to be celebrating on 11 May 1985. Of the 56people who died in the fire,[2] 54 were Bradford supporters and two supported Lincoln. So I decided to give it that next push. Valley Parade in Bradford, West Yorkshire, was built in 1886 and was initially the home ground of Manningham Rugby Football Club. 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. Police had an official photographer at the game, watching for crowd disturbance. He started to walk home, unsure of what had happened to his father. ', 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. It made me realise life is too short and I'm a happier person for it.". [5] However, he also warned the club of a build-up of litter beneath the stand because of a gap between the seats. The only fire extinguishers in the ground were in the clubroom, which is also in the main stand. [8][9] In the crowd were local dignitaries and guests from three of Bradford's twin townsVerviers in Belgium, and Mnchengladbach and Hamm in West Germany. Keep an eye out as you ride your bike through the city you will see a new solar-powered Man, fewer gas and . 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. Somebody looked round and grabbed me by the hood of my coat to pull me over. 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. 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. [10][16] Geoffrey Mitchell said: "There was panic as fans stampeded to an exit which was padlocked. An inquiry launched in the aftermath of the disaster led to legislation to improve safety at football grounds. "I was operated on every other day because I had so many burns and so many areas to work on. The match was recorded by Yorkshire Television for their regional edition of the ITV Sunday afternoon football show The Big Match. 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. And then suddenly, in the space of 120-odd seconds, it really kicked in. [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. "I got stuck against the wall with the weight of people behind me trying to get over. 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. Like you, we're already preparing for Black Rock City to rise again. We went there to win the last game in front of a home crowd. Others ran forward to try to clamber over a fence and a small wall on to the pitch. Those who rescued people were themselves burned in the process.