The game was irrelevant.". Smoke was seen coming from the third row in the section but people are apparently used to seeing smoke flares on the Bradford ground. 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'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. [17], One witness saw paper or debris on fire, about nine inches (230mm) below the floor boards. People smothered him to extinguish the flames, but he later died of his injuries in hospital. Witnesses of the fire have come to terms with the tragedy in different ways. I'd seen the film on the Saturday but the bleakness of the stadium burnt out, and the gloom that afflicted everybody, was dreadful. Bradford city council officials, off-duty policemen and guests from Bradford 's twin town, Munchengladbach, were there to celebrate. It spelt out 'thank you fans'. 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 one thing I remember at the time is we were grateful that we got an answer quickly after the inquiry. "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. He was completely on fire and it looked as though he simply did not know what had happened to him.'. [39], The club's chairman, Stafford Heginbotham, said: "It was to be our day". ", On 26 January 2016, the IPCC declined calls for an investigation and published its full response online. 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. [10] The call was timed at 3:43pm. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. I had to put my jumper over his hair to put the blaze out. [22], Immediately after the fire, Sharpe planned and treated the injuries of over 200 individuals, with many experimental treatments being used. Fletcher has been the only survivor to publicly challenge the inquiry's findings. "All I could see was eerie white lights that the fire brigade had set up and the smoke still in the sky. ", Popplewell: "I'm sorry to spoil what is obviously a very good story, but I'm afraid it is nonsense for many reasons.". 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. Recommended The untold stories of the 1985 fire Our world has a varied history full of terrible tragedies, bizarre tales, unexplained events, and extravagant people. Bradford City continues to support the burns unit at the University of Bradford as its official charity. 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. There was a bit of paper on fire, but it was so small.". 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. The scene in there was one of silence and shock. A new book, written by Valley Parade survivor Martin Fletcher, claims then-Bradford City chairman Stafford Heginbotham had previously netted millions of pounds from insurance payouts after at least eight previous fires at businesses he was associated with. I saw a group of people around the smoke laughing. People pushed him to the ground and tried to smother the flames. Coach Terry Yorath described the events as "the worst day in my life. 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. 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]. It's terrifying how quickly fire spreads in the wrong circumstances. 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 . When cross examined by QC Robert Smith, then Chairman Stafford Heginbotham said he knew about the fire risk at the ground. "[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. "We wouldn't normally have covered that game - no question about it. Hundreds more telephoned the police to try to trace relatives. The sling is now used internationally in the treatment of burns. He later died in hospital. Club coach Terry Yorath incurred minor injuries while taking part in the rescue. It wasn't until later on when assistant manager Terry Yorath came in and said: 'It's not good.'". From 50 to 60 yards away, it was burning our faces it was unbearable. There were queues of people outside houses, which obviously wouldn't happen nowadays. After the fire, Bradford City also announced they would thereafter play with a black trim on their shirt sleeves as a permanent memorial to those who had died. 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. 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. 'I think that is unlikely,' he said. The game was goalless after 40 minutes when play was stopped. 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. There was hardly anything left of him.'. Most of the fans who took this escape route were killed or seriously injured. "I got stuck against the wall with the weight of people behind me trying to get over. 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'. After 40 minutes of the first half, fans had begun to complain about the drab match and the 0-0 score. A few minutes later, he felt a thump on his back from his father, who told him to run. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. [11], The fire escalated very rapidly, and flames became visible; police started to evacuate the stand. What Is Burning Man? [8], The Bradford City matchday squad of players and staff consisted of Terry Yorath, Trevor Cherry, Chris Withe, Don Goodman, Eric McManus, Tony Clegg, John Hawley, Dave Evans, Bryan Edwards, John Hendrie, Mark Ellis, Stuart McCall, Peter Jackson, Bobby Campbell, Martin Singleton and Greg Abbott. 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. "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. 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. 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. Burning Man is an event focused on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance held annually in the western United States. 1909 - Flores Theater fire, Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico, on February 15, killed 250. 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. Former Bradford midfielder John Hendrie, who was playing in the match: "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. Burning Man.NYC. He asks the reader to make their mind up about whether these fires were a coincidence or not.". 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. 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. Like you, we're already preparing for Black Rock City to rise again. [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. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. 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 . The stand had already been condemned, and the demolition teams were due to start work two days later. We were given the trophy before the game in front of the supporters and had to do a lap of honour. 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. More than 3,500 people were crammed into the main stand area and this prevented people from moving away from the blaze quickly. 1985: Fans killed in Bradford stadium fire. "It is the little things that show how much people are still involved the fire still has a big impact on people. I asked the director to get the camera to go a little closer. The fire at a Brooklyn lumber storage building sent plumes of smoke over Williamsburg on Tuesday. "A disaster is not black and white - it is a mass of factors.". 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. The stadium was known for its antiquated design and facilities, which included the wooden roof of the main stand. 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. "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. The only fire extinguishers in the ground were in the clubroom, which is also in the main stand. Spreading with almost unbelievable speed, a small fire under a wooden bench consumed the entire stand in under four minutes.Original TV footage: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x31qcmtIf you would like to support this channel - https://buymeacoffee.com/TheRavensEyeAlthough focused primarily on disasters, this channel is all about the interesting, the strange, the unsolved, the tragic. 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. I looked down and I saw my hands melting. At Valley Parade there are now two memorials. " Burning Man," " Burning Man Project," " Black Rock City ", and . [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. ", "There was a throw-in in front of the stand where the fire started - something caught my eye. About 3,000 people were in Valley Parade's main stand, escaping by climbing over walls on to the pitch or through the usual exit gates. It was clear from what the Chief Fire Officer for West Yorkshire, Mr Graham Karran, said yesterday that the ground was far from safe. He started to walk home, unsure of what had happened to his father. 48,785 Location Lake Jonathan Creek The footage never gets any less shocking. People were clambering over the wall on to the ground with their clothes and hair on fire. She was an. The Bradford way was keep it to ourselves - it worked collectively that we did that. The Man burns on September 02, 2023. ", There has always been a close bond between the club and its supporters since the fire, he adds. Pendleton: "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. The Bradford Burns Unit was set up by Professor David Sharpe after he received many of the victims following the fire. Two or three burly men put their weight against it and smashed the gate open. The inquiry had found that the club had been warned that the accumulation of rubbish beneath the stands was a fire risk. Warning: Some readers may find parts of this content distressing. [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. Part of the service was also held in Urdu and Punjabi as a sign of appreciation to the local ethnically Asian Subcontinental community in Manningham, Bradford and around Valley Parade who had opened their homes to Bradford City supporters to provide assistance in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. "[16] As spectators began to cascade over the wall separating the stand from the pitch, the linesman on that side of the pitch informed referee Norman Glover, who stopped the game with three minutes remaining before half-time. 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. "I saw people die in the stand - but it was only until then that I realised the scale of it.". The club's success had swollen the crowd to 10,000 and arguments will rage about fire precautions at the ground. Website by, Bradford City FC stadium fire | 11th May 1985, Fundraising for firefighters and their families. Helm: "The scene became progressively horrendous, grotesque, and I was having to describe things you couldn't possibly imagine.". I don't know where Falconer is getting this cock-and-bull story from the inaccuracies in this report [documentary] are dumbfounding. Someone came in and shouted: 'Get out, get out there's a fire'. "I looked up and saw the flames. Ironically, off-duty firemen were at the ground selling raffle tickets for a charity football match which should have been held yesterday. 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. Mr Delahunte was screaming into his microphone describing the scene until it became impossible to continue broadcasting. We sat in the main stand the week before, but we had decided to move on that day," he says. The fact the inquiry also embraced the investigation into another incident which happened on the same day, a riot in which a young boy died at Birmingham City, makes it seem more frivolous. All that was left of. 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. One woman was seen running around the ground with no skin on her arms and face. We had to run up the stairs, through the office doors and out on to the street. Loading. he asks. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. At the final home match against Barnsley at the end of April, Bradford City fans collected more than 8,000 in a bucket collection. It has a black marble fascia on which the names and ages of those that died are inscribed in gold, and a black marble platform on which people can leave flowers and mementos. "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.
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