" Burning Man," " Burning Man Project," " Black Rock City ", and . Artist Paul Town, who now lives in Baildon, was 15 at the time of the fire. Witnesses of the fire have come to terms with the tragedy in different ways. No one gave it the attention it ought to have received.. .. ", Hendrie: "We stayed in the pub for hours. But a minute or so later there was suddenly a bigger whoosh of smoke so they went to get a steward. 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. [11] Those who escaped were taken out of the ground to neighbouring homes and a pub, where a television screened World of Sport, which broadcast video recorded of the fire just an hour after it was filmed. The book also raises concerns about the speed of the inquiry and the fact that it commenced a few weeks after the fire and lasted for only a few days, whereas other inquiries into similar incidents, pre and post the Bradford fire, have taken years to come to fruition and months to be heard. 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. He photographed the blaze from start to finish and the police will use this as evidence when an inquest is held. 527 votes, 98 comments. A capacity 6,000 crowd attended a multi-denominational memorial service, held on the pitch in the sunny shadow of the burnt out stand at Valley Parade in July 1985. Funnily enough I was thinking 'I'm going to miss the second half at this rate'. They were hampered further by the fact that doors at the back of the stand were locked to try to stop people coming in without paying. That duty was not a duty to the Club but a duty to the spectators and other persons in the stand. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. It wasn't just something that happened in the past.". Now they will begin another inquiry, into the cause of the Bradford fire. The fire destroyed the main stand completely and left only burned seats, lamps and metal fences remaining. 1.7M subscribers in the CatastrophicFailure community. And all you could smell was burning.". Bradford City were supposed to be celebrating on 11 May 1985. "I want the truth to be out, the myths to be broken, so that I can get on with my life rather than knowing this information and having to live with this information. 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. Once we went out it was mayhem, manic, chaotic. ", "If the inquiry is opened again, we will await to see what evidence there is to prove is wasn't an accident," he says. Helm: "The scene became progressively horrendous, grotesque, and I was having to describe things you couldn't possibly imagine.". However, when Bradford City won promotion to the highest level of English football, Division One, in 1908, club officials sanctioned an upgrade programme. [56], On 17 April 2015, retired Detective Inspector Raymond Falconer, in a report by the Bradford Telegraph and Argus, said the police were aware of an Australian man who admitted to starting the fire. Smoke was seen coming from the third row in the section but people are apparently used to seeing smoke flares on the Bradford ground. 56 people dead. We accepted it was an accident, nobody wanted to blame the club because it was the club we wanted to support. Warning: Some readers may find parts of this content distressing. It's a nice little business and it's something positive that came out of a tragedy. Fans in the next stand (the "Bradford End") pulled down the fence separating them from the pitch. I have never had to deal with such a situation before, and this has put the city on its heels.'. I was there in hospital for eight weeks - it felt like a lifetime. [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. 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. Previous warnings had also been given about a major build-up of litter in the cavity below the seats in the stand. Copyright , Fire Brigades Union, 2023. It was nearly double the season's average of 6,610 and included 3,000fans in the ground's 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 I remember trying to make sense of what was going on. As he received the injured at Bradford Royal Infirmary he was able to call upon 10% of the UK's population of plastic surgeons. "The fire still has a big impact on people," Parker says. 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. [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. ", ITV football commentator John Helm, who provided live commentary of the unfolding disaster across the nation: "We wouldn't normally have covered that game - no question about it. 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. "But the feeling here is that it is hard to believe that someone would purposefully start a fire. I'd seen the film on the Saturday but the bleakness of the stadium burnt out, and the gloom that afflicted everybody, was dreadful. 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. Edited by BBC Sport's Jonathan Jurejko. [10] One eyewitness, Geoffrey Mitchell, told the BBC: "It spread like a flash. Hendrie: "Several minutes before half-time I saw there was a wee bit of bother. [16] Messages of condolence were also received from Helmut Kohl, Chedli Klibi and Felipe Gonzlez. They were donated by Bradford's twin city of Hamm, Germany, and are situated in front of Bradford City Hall in both locations. The local council was deemed to be one third responsible. [32] Speaking at the close of the case, the Judge said "They (the club) were at fault, no one in authority seemed to have appreciated the fire hazard. [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. It was the brainchild of Bradford City fan Lloyd Spencer with all profits going to the Bradford Royal Infirmary Burns Unit.[43]. ', 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. Lincoln City chairman Bob Dorrian, centre, is joined by Former Imps Players Association chairman Trevor Swinburne, left, and chairman of the Red Imps. And then suddenly, in the space of 120-odd seconds, it really kicked in. The disaster led to rigid new safety standards in UK stadiums, including the banning of new wooden grandstands. 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." (2015), 2003 Football League Third Division play-off final, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bradford_City_stadium_fire&oldid=1141323458, Fire disasters involving barricaded escape routes, Pages containing London Gazette template with parameter supp set to y, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2010, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2021, Articles needing additional references from May 2018, All articles needing additional references, Articles needing additional references from December 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Fan attempted to extinguish a lit cigarette, it slipped through floorboards and fell on rubbish, igniting it. 'They did not have a chance. [15], At 3:44pm, five minutes before half-time, the first sign of a firea glowing lightwas noticed three rows from the back of block G,[10][16] as reported by television commentator John Helm. Mike Harrison, the editor of the Bradford City Football Club fanzine The City Gent, was there on the day. 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. 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. They were at fault, but the fault was that no-one in authority seems ever to have properly appreciated the real gravity of this fire hazard and consequently no-one gave it the attention it certainly ought to have received. 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". [8][10] Three men smashed down one door and at least one exit was opened by people outside, which again helped prevent further deaths. We had not been told anything.". The stadium was known for its antiquated design and facilities, which included the wooden roof of the main stand. Fletcher said that "The club at the time took no actual responsibility for its actions and nobody has ever really been held accountable for the level of negligence which took place. Within 48 hours of the disaster, the Bradford Disaster Appeal Fund had been set up and would eventually raise over 3.5m ($5.4m). I ran to the stand and tried to help people escape. The stories of escapes are legion. Watch Missed Warnings on BBC One in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire at 22:45 BST on Tuesday, 12 May. Football architect Archibald Leitch was commissioned to carry out the work. All Rights Reserved. [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 pushed him to the ground and tried to smother the flames. One man in tears said: 'He looked as if he was just going for a stroll. ", There has always been a close bond between the club and its supporters since the fire, he adds. 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. 'The fire just spread along the length of the stand in seconds. Bradford fan David Pendleton, then aged 21 and stood in the main stand: "For the first minute people were laughing and joking, it wasn't anything serious. "I parked my van outside because I started making enough money painting as I was in construction. There were many cases of heroism, with more than 50 people later receiving police awards or commendations for bravery. [10] Bradford City's coach Terry Yorath, whose family was in the stand,[19] ran onto the pitch to help evacuate people. 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. I've never seen anything like it. When cross examined by QC Robert Smith, then Chairman Stafford Heginbotham said he knew about the fire risk at the ground.
Mcclure Funeral Home Burlington, Nc Obituaries,
Taunton Drug Bust,
Alabama High School Track And Field State Qualifying Times,
Articles B
