burning man bradford city stadium fire

Those with longer memories will also think of the Ibrox disaster of . [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. I have never had to deal with such a situation before, and this has put the city on its heels.'. A police officer shouted to a colleague for an extinguisher, but his call was misheard and instead the fire brigade were radioed. [16] Messages of condolence were also received from Helmut Kohl, Chedli Klibi and Felipe Gonzlez. The stand had already been condemned, and the demolition teams were due to start work two days later. However, as there was no real precedent, most Bradfordians accepted that the fire was a terrible piece of misfortune. The man we see at 7:50 walking out onto the pitch on fire was a retired mill worker. [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. Someone came in and shouted: 'Get out, get out there's a fire'. We use necessary cookies to make our site work. He appealed to people to be patient while forensic experts identified bodies. "Until I arrived home my mum and my brother had no idea whether I was alive or dead. Cigarette smoking was also banned at all grounds with wooden stands. The whole fire seemed to erupt in seconds,' he said. 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. It was appalling that public money was given to the club while it was still owned by the same shareholders under whose direction the fire had happened. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. Some people seem to have run back up the slope, thinking that they could get back through the turnstiles, and were burned alive. The 1984-85 season had been one of the most successful in Bradford City's 82-year history. "I was burnt from top to bottom, on and off. Funnily enough I was thinking 'I'm going to miss the second half at this rate'. It was also a catalyst for the substantial redevelopment and modernisation of many British football grounds within the following thirty years. One family was in tears, the mother shaking. We were given the trophy before the game in front of the supporters and had to do a lap of honour. Brooklyn fire: Lumber storage warehouse in Williamsburg goes up in A discarded cigarette and a dilapidated wooden stand, which had survived because the club did not have the money to replace it, and accumulated paper litter, were considered to have conspired to cause the worst disaster in the history of the Football League. Bradford City FC stadium fire | 11th May 1985 | Fire Brigades Union Mr Delahunte was screaming into his microphone describing the scene until it became impossible to continue broadcasting. 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. "A disaster is not black and white - it is a mass of factors.". 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. "The fire still has a big impact on people," Parker says. The 1985 Bradford City Football Stadium Fire What Happened and Why It wasn't just something that happened in the past.". People were falling on to each other and screaming. The Popplewell Inquiry found that the club had been warned about the fire risk that the rubbish accumulating under the stand had posed. Bradford City stadium fire: Remembering the 56 who died at Valley - IBT I rolled over on my head, jumped up and ran off.". 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. Exactly 79 years to the day after the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, another tragic fire occurred in New York City. We wanted to record the trophy presentation. I had no idea. It spelt out 'thank you fans'. "[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'. Our world has a varied history full of terrible tragedies, bizarre tales, unexplained events, and extravagant people. Hundreds more telephoned the police to try to trace relatives. A few minutes later, he felt a thump on his back from his father, who told him to run. However, the responsibility of the Club is, in my view, very much the greater and I apportion responsibility between the two defendants as to two-thirds on the first defendant and one-third on the third (sic) defendant. Bradford City stadium fire: Police identify man who 'dropped the All Rights Reserved. All existing grandstands deemed fire risks were faced with immediate closure. 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. Stories From 11 May. Fifty-six people were killed, 265 were injured and thousands bore witness to the worst fire disaster in the history of English football. 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. Spreading with almost unbelievable speed, a small fire under a wooden. The team was presented with the Division Three championship trophy - their first trophy in 56 years - in front of 11,000 jubilant fans before the start of their match against Lincoln City. 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. Hideous images linger after carnage of 'celebration' day The match was recorded by Yorkshire Television for their regional edition of the ITV Sunday afternoon football show The Big Match. [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. "Many people still don't want to talk about the disaster. [10][11], Bradford's Telegraph & Argus newspaper published a souvenir issue for 11 May, entitled, "Spit and Polish for the Parade Ground". But all the people being treated, we formed a family, a bond.". Martin Fletcher was talking to BBC Look North. Bradford City stadium fire. A football match in Bradford UK ends 199 Bradford City Stadium Fire Photos and Premium High Res Pictures 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. [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. 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. [4], Although there had been some changes to other parts of the ground, the main stand remained unaltered by 1985. Many who had walked out of the fire stood on the pitch looking back in horror as the flames destroyed the stand. At the final home match against Barnsley at the end of April, Bradford City fans collected more than 8,000 in a bucket collection. "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. The Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, Mr Colin Sampson, said yesterday that a team of doctors and pathologists had worked throughout the night trying to identify the dead. There was a bit of paper on fire, but it was so small.". Bradford City stadium fire disaster remembered - BBC Sport "That was the moment that I realised not everybody was going to get out. Yet many of those with terrible memories of the tragedy also take heart in the compassion born out of the devastation. A Bradford Disaster Appeal Fund raised 3.5m for the victims and their families. The Bradford city stadium fire. 56 people died when a - reddit Bradford, playing into a strong wind, were struggling to break down a Lincoln side already safe from relegation. I've never seen anything like it. "When I got to one of the final walls, there was an eight-foot drop at the other side, concrete at the bottom. I had to put my jumper over his hair to put the blaze out. 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]. Bradford City Fire disaster: 36 years on the city's pioneering burns He is quoted as saying: "I don't believe the statement of retired Detective Inspector Raymond Falconer at all. 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. 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. The Popplewell Inquiry found that a discarded cigarette and an accumulation of litter beneath the stand were to blame. Sir Oliver Popplewell, the High Court judge who led the Valley Parade inquiry in 1985: "The scene when I arrived was horrendous. Some of those who died were still sitting upright in their seats, covered by remnants of tarpaulin that had fallen from the roof. He photographed the blaze from start to finish and the police will use this as evidence when an inquest is held. 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. Bradford city council officials, off-duty policemen and guests from Bradford 's twin town, Munchengladbach, were there to celebrate. Last updated on 10 May 201510 May 2015.From the section Football, "People didn't die because of fires at football grounds. Police had an official photographer at the game, watching for crowd disturbance. Your brain tells you, you are not going anywhere. [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. "Several minutes before half-time I saw there was a wee bit of bother. The Bradford City stadium fire : r/MorbidReality It was clear from what the Chief Fire Officer for West Yorkshire, Mr Graham Karran, said yesterday that the ground was far from safe. "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. His most recent painting is a powerful image; two fans in Bradford and Lincoln City kits, surrounded by 54 other figures. The Bradford City Stadium Fire 1985 - The Football Inferno 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. 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. Valley Parade during the early 1990s, after it had been redeveloped following the fire. And the black and twisted skeleton of the burnt stand stood out in the night. It is a simple account laid out for all to see. We couldn't breathe. "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 City continues to support the burns unit at the University of Bradford as its official charity. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [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. The fire brigade arrived at the ground four minutes after they were initially alerted. 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. Bradford City were supposed to be celebrating on 11 May 1985. 1985: Fans killed in Bradford stadium fire. Fifty-six people died. 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. [8][10] Three men smashed down one door and at least one exit was opened by people outside, which again helped prevent further deaths. [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. By this date the appeal fund set up for survivors had paid out more than 4m with further payouts expected as the effects of physical and mental injury were determined. People smothered him to extinguish the flames, but he later died of his injuries in hospital. The worst fire disaster in English football history played out on live television on May 11, after Valley Parade's main stand caught fire during a match between Bradford City and Lincoln City on . One, now re-situated to that end of the stand where the fire began, is a sculpture donated on the initial re-opening of Valley Parade in December 1986 by Sylvia Graucob, a then Jersey-based former West Yorkshire woman. "I walked past a public telephone outside the ground and there were queues of people waiting to ring home to say: 'I'm OK'. 'I think that is unlikely,' he said. "It is unbelievable how quickly the fire took hold. Today marks the 35th anniversary of one of the worst disasters in the history of British football. The chairman of the football club, Mr Stafford Heginbotham, was near to tears as he explained what had happened. Of the 56people who died in the fire,[2] 54 were Bradford supporters and two supported Lincoln. I don't see that. 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. Smoke was seen coming from the third row in the section but people are apparently used to seeing smoke flares on the Bradford ground. Bits of my arms, bits of my legs, part of my face, part of my scalp. Sign up and stay up to date with our daily newsletter. [1] When the association football club was formed, the ground was changed very little and had no covered accommodation. But the sheer density of numbers coupled with the thick, choking smoke made people collapse. The Great Fire of London, 1212 | Sky HISTORY TV Channel " Burning Man," " Burning Man Project," " Black Rock City ", and . Then flames licked the underside of the seats, which were a combination of wood and plastic. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. 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. Instead it turned into a day of appalling tragedy. [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. Copyright 2023 IBTimes UK. The two sides met for the first time after the fire in April 1989, when they arranged a benefit match in aid of the Hillsborough disaster, at Valley Parade. People were arriving in a daze outside Bradford police headquarters on Saturday evening and early yesterday. 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. Owing to windy conditions, less than four minutes later the entire wooden stand was engulfed in smoke and fire. [10] The stand seats did not have risers; this had allowed a large accumulation of rubbish and paper waste in the cavity space under the stand, which had not been cleared for many months. Ironically, off-duty firemen were at the ground selling raffle tickets for a charity football match which should have been held yesterday. 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. 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. The sling is now used internationally in the treatment of burns. We were sat in our football kit, we didn't know what to do. "[27], After controversial comments made by Popplewell about the Hillsborough Disaster, Fletcher raised further concerns about the events following the fire saying that "I have many unanswered questions still about the fire in which four of my family died, as does my mother. One man in tears said: 'He looked as if he was just going for a stroll. There was hardly anything left of him.'. After its renovation in 1990 they named the home end of their ground the 'Stacey-West Stand', in honour of Bill Stacey and Jim West, the two Lincoln City supporters who were amongst the 56 to die at Bradford. Burning Man NYC [10] Bradford City's coach Terry Yorath, whose family was in the stand,[19] ran onto the pitch to help evacuate people. More than 200 people were taken to hospital, many with terrible injuries. Listen to Valley Parade: Bradford City Fire Remembered on BBC Radio Leeds (18:00 BST) and BBC Radio 5 live (21:00 BST). 1908 - Collinwood school fire, in Collinwood, Ohio (soon absorbed by Cleveland ), on March 4, killed 175. When cross examined by QC Robert Smith, then Chairman Stafford Heginbotham said he knew about the fire risk at the ground. "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. Grenfell among the UK's worst fire and tower tragedies Bradford City fire: Police reveal who was responsible for 1985 Valley Former Bradford midfielder John Hendrie, who was playing in the match: "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. 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. I was there in hospital for eight weeks - it felt like a lifetime. There was some kind of disturbance near the edge of a block of seats in the G section of the main stand. [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. 527 votes, 98 comments. BBC ON THIS DAY | 11 | 1985: Fans killed in Bradford stadium fire [19] One fan put his jumper over a fellow supporter's head to extinguish flames. Watch Missed Warnings on BBC One in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire at 22:45 BST on Tuesday, 12 May. Mike Harrison, the editor of the Bradford City Football Club fanzine The City Gent, was there on the day. "But the feeling here is that it is hard to believe that someone would purposefully start a fire. We sat in the main stand the week before, but we had decided to move on that day," he says. ", There has always been a close bond between the club and its supporters since the fire, he adds. Soon they were all running for their lives. Bradford fire 11.5.1985.mpg - video Dailymotion On 11 May 1985 a fire erupted in the midst of a third-division tie between Bradford City and Lincoln City at Valley Parade, killing 54 home supporters and two Lincoln fans. ", Popplewell: "I'm sorry to spoil what is obviously a very good story, but I'm afraid it is nonsense for many reasons.". 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. [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. 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. Warning: Some readers may find parts of this content distressing. There is a twin memorial sculpture, unveiled on 11 May 1986, which has the names of the dead inscribed on it. Together, flanked by undocumented supporters, they managed to clear all but one person who made it to the front of the stand. The Man burns on September 02, 2023. The inquiry into the disaster, chaired by Sir Oliver Popplewell and known as the Popplewell Inquiry,[25] led to the introduction of new legislation to improve safety at the UK's football grounds. 1908 - Rhoads Opera House fire, Boyertown, Pennsylvania, killed 170. As he scaled the brick perimeter wall at the front, his father stayed behind to help others escape. It's a nice little business and it's something positive that came out of a tragedy. "[28], West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council was found to have failed in its duty under the Fire Precautions Act 1971. The Bradford City disaster took place on Saturday May 11, 1985 when a flash fire occurred at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, England.

What Happened To Chris Nash Actor, Jennifer Gould Missing Person, How To Unlock Guardian Raids Lost Ark, Joe Gibbs Racing Sheet Metal, Articles B