"That was the legacy of the tragedy. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. Valley Parade re-opened on 14 December 1986, when Bradford City beat an England XI 21 in a friendly. The stand had been officially condemned and was due to be replaced with a steel structure after the season ended. I asked the director to get the camera to go a little closer. We were given the trophy before the game in front of the supporters and had to do a lap of honour. "Until I arrived home my mum and my brother had no idea whether I was alive or dead. Everybody in the city was devastated, but there was an amazing number of volunteers. I remember trying to make sense of what was going on. As we move ahead on the 2030 Sustainability Roadmap, sustainability projects are taking center stage. [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. 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. "[35], The total amount of compensation to the 154 claimants was reported to be as high as 20million, with the payouts covered by insurance taken out by the club. 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. People ran onto the pitch with their clothes on fire while others were trapped at the back of the stand where they had gone to try to escape through the turnstiles. He later said: "I have never known anything like it, either before, or since. It was nearly double the season's average of 6,610 and included 3,000fans in the ground's main stand. Cigarette smoking was also banned at all grounds with wooden stands. Of the 56 people who died in the fire,[2] 54 were Bradford supporters and two supported Lincoln. It was a gruesome sight to see bodies still sitting upright in their seats, covered in tarpaulin. "I know it's a clich to say that, but it's true.". 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?. Soon they were all running for their lives. We wanted to record the trophy presentation. People were wandering around outside the ground in disbelief, reminiscent of an air disaster, at what had happened the day before. 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. For the 30th anniversary of the fire a new version of "You'll Never Walk Alone" was recorded at Voltage Studios in Bradford. I looked down and I saw my hands melting. 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. Supporters either ran upwards to the back of the stand or downwards to the pitch to escape. It is impossible so far to be accurate about the precise cause of the fire, with grossly conflicting reports from witnesses. [34], During the case, Sir Joseph Cantley stated that: "It is only right that I should say that I think it would be unfair to conclude that Heginbotham, Tordoff, the Board of Directors, or any of them, were intentionally and callously indifferent to the safety of spectators using the stand. 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. People pushed him to the ground and tried to smother the flames. Earlier this year, Town gave up working in construction to pursue painting full-time through his business Stadium Portraits. 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'. [29] The Health and Safety Executive who were also part of the legal action were found to be non-liable. 48,785 Location Lake Jonathan Creek The footage never gets any less shocking. What Is Burning Man? 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. 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. We had to run up the stairs, through the office doors and out on to the street. I dread to imagine how many more could have died if the wind had been blowing in the direction of the pitch, instead of away from it. People were arriving in a daze outside Bradford police headquarters on Saturday evening and early yesterday. Stories From 11 May. That's when everybody else had the same thought. [1] When the association football club was formed, the ground was changed very little and had no covered accommodation. 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. BBC ON THIS DAY | 11 | 1985: Fans killed in Bradford stadium fire Burning Man is an event focused on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance held annually in the western United States. [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. 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. Eight fires in the 18 years before the Bradford City fire were identified, many catastrophic and leading to large insurance payouts. 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 . I was there in hospital for eight weeks - it felt like a lifetime. The government inquiry into the disaster concluded the fire spread "faster than a man could run". "[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. 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. "[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. It is a simple account laid out for all to see. It spelt out 'thank you fans'. Bradford city council officials, off-duty policemen and guests from Bradford 's twin town, Munchengladbach, were there to celebrate. "I was operated on every other day because I had so many burns and so many areas to work on. People had walked through turnstiles and along a wooden corridor before descending the steps into their seats. [11], The fire escalated very rapidly, and flames became visible; police started to evacuate the stand. I ran to the stand and tried to help people escape. [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. "We wouldn't normally have covered that game - no question about it. 1985: Fans killed in Bradford stadium fire. This included the banning of new wooden grandstands at all sports venues in the UK. 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. [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. Pendleton: "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. 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. Thirty years on, the majority of survivors still find it too difficult to talk about what happened at the Valley Parade on 11 May 1985. 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. Bradford fire 11.5.1985.mpg - video Dailymotion Wildman: "I was burnt from top to bottom, on and off. "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. [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. "I got stuck against the wall with the weight of people behind me trying to get over. More than 200 people were taken to hospital, many with terrible injuries. Some of those who died were still sitting upright in their seats, covered by remnants of tarpaulin that had fallen from the roof. "The scene when I arrived was horrendous. List of building or structure fires - Wikipedia 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. He had to undergo counselling and was unable to go to another game for several years. 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 Rights Reserved. It was fairly clear that somebody had dropped a lighted match or cigarette between the floorboards.". [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. It's terrifying how quickly fire spreads in the wrong circumstances. ", IBT UK Morning Brief - Let the best of International News come to you. [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. The Bradford Burns Unit was set up by Professor David Sharpe after he received many of the victims following the fire. "[33], Central to the test case were two letters sent to Bradford City's Club Secretary by the West Yorkshire Fire Brigade; the second letter dated 18 July 1984 specifically highlighted in full the improvements needed to be actioned at the ground as well as the fire risk at the main stand. Burning Man NYC Then flames licked the underside of the seats, which were a combination of wood and plastic. Helm: "There was a throw-in in front of the stand where the fire started - something caught my eye. [48] Profits from the play's run at The Edinburgh Fringe were donated to the Bradford Burns Unit. A minute later he saw a small plume of smoke so he poured his coffee on it and so did his son. The game was irrelevant. Fire disaster at football match (Bradford City stadium fire) Bradford City were supposed to be celebrating on 11 May 1985. Since 1903, when the club was formed, Bradford City Association Football Club had played their home games at the ground. 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. Martin Fletcher, a Bradford fan who lost three generations of his family in the fire, published a memoir of the tragic event called Fifty-Six The Story Of The Bradford Fire, in which he claimed the blaze at Valley Parade was one of nine fires at businesses owned by or associated with Heginbotham. Grenfell among the UK's worst fire and tower tragedies Bradford City stadium fire: BBC documentary says Aussie man to blame 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. 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. Interviews conducted by BBC Radio Leeds' Tim Daley. The Man burns on September 02, 2023. [19] One fan put his jumper over a fellow supporter's head to extinguish flames. "But the feeling here is that it is hard to believe that someone would purposefully start a fire. [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. The man in charge of investigating the fire, Detective Superintendent Kevin Cooper was at the game. 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. Those are the words of David Pendleton, a survivor of the Bradford City fire disaster, which happened 30 years ago. Listen to Valley Parade: Bradford City Fire Remembered on BBC Radio Leeds (18:00 BST) and BBC Radio 5 live (21:00 BST). The smoke was choking. 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. 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. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. The fire brigade said that when heat builds up so quickly it can cause flames to move much quicker than people can walk. Radiated heat from the burning roof of the stand set fire to the clothing of fans trapped underneath. "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. 24 Bradford City A.F.C. Once we went out it was mayhem, manic, chaotic. Only then do you realise the huge network of people the fire involved. "All I could see was eerie white lights that the fire brigade had set up and the smoke still in the sky. 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'. Most of those who escaped onto the pitch were saved.[10]. Parents and children were laughing and joking with the police as the preliminaries to the game began. Your brain tells you, you are not going anywhere. 'The fire just spread along the length of the stand in seconds. After Hillsborough, the Bradford City FC stadium fire was the second worst sporting tragedy in England, leaving 56 dead and at least 265 injured. There is a twin memorial sculpture, unveiled on 11 May 1986, which has the names of the dead inscribed on it. It seemed to put it out. Watch Missed Warnings on BBC One in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire at 22:45 BST on Tuesday, 12 May. "I walked past a public telephone outside the ground and there were queues of people waiting to ring home to say: 'I'm OK'. He was helped out of the stand by other fans and spent a period of time in hospital. [27], Explaining his decision, Sir Joseph Cantley stated: "As I have already stated, the primary duty was on the Club and the functions of the County Council were supervisory and its liability is for negligent breach of a common law duty arising out of the way in which they dealt with or ignored their statutory powers. 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. The team's coach, Mr Terry Yorath, ran on to the pitch to try to help people away from the stand. Then the flames and smoke were all over the place.'. 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. Police worked until 4am the next morning, under lighting, to remove all the bodies. His most recent painting is a powerful image; two fans in Bradford and Lincoln City kits, surrounded by 54 other figures.
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