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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. Otherwise, I would not have been able to get out. At Valley Parade there are now two memorials. A fire at a third division match between Bradford City and Lincoln City killed 56, including 11 children, and injured hundreds more. We didn't know how serious it was.". 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. It was clear from what the Chief Fire Officer for West Yorkshire, Mr Graham Karran, said yesterday that the ground was far from safe. 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. As we move ahead on the 2030 Sustainability Roadmap, sustainability projects are taking center stage. Most of those who escaped onto the pitch were saved.[10]. "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. But I've never spoken to anyone who thought the fire wasn't anything other than a tragic accident. Someone came in and shouted: 'Get out, get out there's a fire'. Fifty people die in a fire in the grandstand at a soccer stadium in Bradford, England, on May 11, 1985. Artist Paul Town, who now lives in Baildon, was 15 at the time of the fire. 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 . More than 250 others were injured in one of the. There were no fire extinguishers. However, as there was no real precedent, most Bradfordians accepted that the fire was a terrible piece of misfortune. 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. Together, flanked by undocumented supporters, they managed to clear all but one person who made it to the front of the stand. The scene in there was one of silence and shock. Of the 56people who died in the fire,[2] 54 were Bradford supporters and two supported Lincoln. The heat was so intense it caused car windows to shatter in the street. He was asked if precautions would have been adequate had the club been in the Second Division. "[16] At the front of the stand, men threw children over the wall to help them escape. 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. 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. Eight fires in the 18 years before the Bradford City fire were identified, many catastrophic and leading to large insurance payouts. "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.". 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. Bradford City stadium fire. A football match in Bradford UK ends "We went out on to the pitch and I could see so many happy faces. The smoke was choking. The game was goalless after 40 minutes when play was stopped. Most recognizably, tens of thousands of Burners gather annually to build Black Rock City, a participative temporary metropolis . 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. "I was in the stand opposite when the fire broke out. Police officers also assisted in the rescue attempts. The Bradford City stadium fire : r/MorbidReality [31] In 1988, the first compensation payments were made to survivors of the fire, with over 40 people receiving up to 40,000 each. Bits of my arms, bits of my legs, part of my face, part of my scalp. After Hillsborough, the Bradford City FC stadium fire was the second worst sporting tragedy in England, leaving 56 dead and at least 265 injured. "All you could see was black cloud. They were immediately promoted back to the Football League in 1988, and survived for 23 years before being relegated again in 2011. 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 only fire extinguishers in the ground were in the clubroom, which is also in the main stand. Copyright 2023 IBTimes UK. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. 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. More than 3,500 people were crammed into the main stand area and this prevented people from moving away from the blaze quickly. Today, locals continue to raise money for the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit in memory of the victims of the fire. I ran to the stand and tried to help people escape. 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. Keep an eye out as you ride your bike through the city you will see a new solar-powered Man, fewer gas and . The stories of escapes are legion. People were arriving in a daze outside Bradford police headquarters on Saturday evening and early yesterday. Helm: "The scene became progressively horrendous, grotesque, and I was having to describe things you couldn't possibly imagine.". They stood outside the headquarters, staring at nothing in particular. When the game began there was no way out for them, except by going on to the pitch. "It made me realise life is too short." Police removed the last body from the ground at 4 am yesterday, working under arc lights. 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. Bradford City stadium fire: BBC documentary says Aussie man to blame 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. 48,785 Location Lake Jonathan Creek The footage never gets any less shocking. "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. 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. Hundreds more telephoned the police to try to trace relatives. 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. "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. The fire claimed young and old alike, with most fatalities occurring at the rear of the stand where people sought escape only to find turnstiles locked. Those who rescued people were themselves burned in the process. Since then, it has been further re-developed and, today, Valley Parade is a modern 25,136 all-seater stadium, which is virtually unrecognisable from how it was at the time of the disaster, save for the original clubhouse that still stands beside the main stand, and the flank support wall that runs down the Hollywell Ash Lane at the "Bradford End". [53], In 1986, a year after the disaster, Yorkshire Television aired a documentary presented by John Helm entitled Bradford City A Year of Healing. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. "If we were fed a lie about it being an accident, then we will be educated. Sign up and stay up to date with our daily newsletter. Soon they were all running for their lives. 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. He asks the reader to make their mind up about whether these fires were a coincidence or not.". Some of the dead were found at the bottom of these steps. Steel was to be installed in the roof,[8] and the wooden terracing was to be replaced with concrete. 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. "[55], Adams also went on to state that "I have read in some newspapers that he is being berated for his campaign to have a new inquiry. 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. That's when everybody else had the same thought. Original television coverage of the fire, as caught by cameras covering the match. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. The fire brigade said that when heat builds up so quickly it can cause flames to move much quicker than people can walk. "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. [6] 1908 - Parker Building, New York City, January 10. Bradford City stadium fire - Wikipedia Fifty-six people died. [10][11], Bradford's Telegraph & Argus newspaper published a souvenir issue for 11 May, entitled, "Spit and Polish for the Parade Ground". The Bradford City stadium fire was the worst fire disaster in the history of football.. "Us players must have been in the tunnel for seconds - and I mean seconds. Smoke was seen coming from the third row in the section but people are apparently used to seeing smoke flares on the Bradford ground. "I saw people die in the stand - but it was only until then that I realised the scale of it.". " Burning Man," " Burning Man Project," " Black Rock City ", and . Police worked until 4am the next morning, under lighting, to remove all the bodies. According to ABC News, though, several hundred people in the Chinese city of Luoyang decided to cut loose on Christmas night 2000 by heading to a nightclub housed on the fourth floor of a multi-use industrial building.A fire broke out in the basement of the structure . Tarpaulin fell on them and stuck to their clothes and then ignited. There has been reports of people lighting paper under the seats, and it was important that as many fans as possible who were in the stand or at the Kop end contacted the police. Other parents whose children had not arrived home on Saturday called at the police station or sat in cars outside, waiting for news. [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. One elderly man started to walk across the pitch with his clothes and face ablaze. "We couldn't help because there were so many people streaming towards us, to our side of the pitch, to get away from the heat. People were scrambling for their lives to get out, and I know having sat in that stand normally that it is difficult and there is a drop to get to the pitch level," Harrison says. We, and the world, need Burning Man and Black Rock City more than ever. Bradford City fire was started by a tourist who dropped a cigarette Football architect Archibald Leitch was commissioned to carry out the work. [19] One fan put his jumper over a fellow supporter's head to extinguish flames. The man in charge of investigating the fire, Detective Superintendent Kevin Cooper was at the game. [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. 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. 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]. He later said: "I have never known anything like it, either before, or since. [39], The club's chairman, Stafford Heginbotham, said: "It was to be our day". "I parked my van outside because I started making enough money painting as I was in construction. There is a twin memorial sculpture, unveiled on 11 May 1986, which has the names of the dead inscribed on it. Parents and children were laughing and joking with the police as the preliminaries to the game began. Supporters either ran upwards to the back of the stand or downwards to the pitch to escape. There were many cases of heroism, with more than 50 people later receiving police awards or commendations for bravery. [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. A few minutes later, he felt a thump on his back from his father, who told him to run. There was some kind of disturbance near the edge of a block of seats in the G section of the main stand. Hendrie: "Us players must have been in the tunnel for seconds - and I mean seconds. 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. Mike Harrison, the editor of the Bradford City Football Club fanzine The City Gent, was there on the day. The fire happened during a football match. Survival Guide 2022 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. 2022 DECOMPRESSION WAS DREAMY . There is no evidence in the book, he is just pointing out there are some coincidences. Uncensored coverage of the fire was transmitted minutes after the event on World of Sport and the BBC's Grandstand after the video cassette was physically driven to Yorkshire Television. Videos, gifs, or aftermath photos of machinery, structures, or devices [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. 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 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. 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. Only one person had been positively identified by police by early last night. 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. 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 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. But a minute or so later there was suddenly a bigger whoosh of smoke so they went to get a steward. 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 There were queues of people outside houses, which obviously wouldn't happen nowadays. The team's coach, Mr Terry Yorath, ran on to the pitch to try to help people away from the stand. 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. The firemen who arrived there were met by a wall of flame and dense black smoke. We sat in the main stand the week before, but we had decided to move on that day," he says. [10] The call was timed at 3:43pm. 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. However, when Bradford City won promotion to the highest level of English football, Division One, in 1908, club officials sanctioned an upgrade programme. Mr Stefan Krolak, a survivor from Bradford , said he saw the smoke start a few seats away from him 'The smoke seemed suddenly to set on fire. ", 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. Some days I had two operations in a day. I saw one man lying on the ground, burning from head to foot. "I was in the main stand when the fire happened," he says. Superintendent Barry Osborne, divisional commander for the football club area, who was injured in the fire said that many policemen cried when they saw how badly people had been burned. [7] As it was the first piece of league silverware that the club had captured since they won the Division Three (North) title 56years earlier, 11,076supporters were in the ground. The stand had been officially condemned and was due to be replaced with a steel structure after the season ended. Wildman: "I was dragged on to the pitch and into a line of people, who couldn't do much for themselves and were lying there. 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. 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. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire - HISTORY [10] Bradford City's coach Terry Yorath, whose family was in the stand,[19] ran onto the pitch to help evacuate people. Surviving supporters, former Bradford players, the sole television commentator at the stadium and the judge who led the government inquiry tell the BBC about that fateful afternoon and its aftermath. After 40 minutes of the first half, fans had begun to complain about the drab match and the 0-0 score. "[37], Fletcher subsequently published a book in 2015, Fifty-Six: The Story of the Bradford Fire which revealed a history of fires at businesses owned by the Bradford City chairman Stafford Heginbotham.