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There was a bit of paper on fire, but it was so small.". I hope you enjoy some of the fascinating stories we have here.#History #Disasters Mr Delahunte was screaming into his microphone describing the scene until it became impossible to continue broadcasting. [8][10] Three men smashed down one door and at least one exit was opened by people outside, which again helped prevent further deaths. 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. ", "If the inquiry is opened again, we will await to see what evidence there is to prove is wasn't an accident," he says. Then flames licked the underside of the seats, which were a combination of wood and plastic. It was the brainchild of Bradford City fan Lloyd Spencer with all profits going to the Bradford Royal Infirmary Burns Unit.[43]. ", Popplewell: "I'm sorry to spoil what is obviously a very good story, but I'm afraid it is nonsense for many reasons.". That duty was not a duty to the Club but a duty to the spectators and other persons in the stand. Most recognizably, tens of thousands of Burners gather annually to build Black Rock City, a participative temporary metropolis . Like you, we're already preparing for Black Rock City to rise again. Our world has a varied history full of terrible tragedies, bizarre tales, unexplained events, and extravagant people. The Most Tragic Nightclub Fires In History - Grunge.com 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 man we see at 7:50 walking out onto the pitch on fire was a retired mill worker. Some of the dead were found at the bottom of these steps. 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. Luckily, his father arrived home shortly after he did, but 30 years on, he still remembers the young woman who served him a Mars Bar and his father a coffee, who never made it out of the stadium. And the black and twisted skeleton of the burnt stand stood out in the night. "If we were fed a lie about it being an accident, then we will be educated. "I was in the stand opposite when the fire broke out. Warnings had been issued over the ground's antiquated wooden structure, which had been condemned and was due to be pulled down and replaced with steel and concrete. The stand had been officially condemned and was due to be replaced with a steel structure after the season ended. The fire brigade arrived at the ground four minutes after they were initially alerted. "Then we ran out in our tracksuits each holding a massive card with a letter. It wasn't just something that happened in the past.". There was hardly anything left of him.'. [6], The 198485 season had been one of Bradford City's most successful seasons, ending with City clinching the championship title courtesy of a 20 victory against Bolton Wanderers in the penultimate game of the season. Someone came in and shouted: 'Get out, get out there's a fire'. "We stayed in the pub for hours. [13], The match kicked off at 3:04pm and after forty minutes of the first half, the score remained 00,[14] in what was described as a drab affair with neither team threatening to score. Survival Guide 2022 Many were burnt to death at the turnstiles gates, which had also been locked after the match had begun. "I remember not being able to watch it, but we couldn't get out. BBC Sport looks back at the Bradford City fire disaster that claimed the lives of 56 spectators when a stand became engulfed in flames on 11 May 1985. [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. "It is hard to imagine how Martin and his mother have managed to cope over the last 30 years and we have always respected him," Harrison says. Fifty-six people were killed, 265 were injured and thousands bore witness to the worst fire disaster in the history of English football. He asks the reader to make their mind up about whether these fires were a coincidence or not.". You could hardly breathe. Somebody looked round and grabbed me by the hood of my coat to pull me over. "It wasn't covering anything up, it wasn't avoiding the truth of what happened, everyone knows what happened, everyone knows it shouldn't have happened. 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. The fire brigade said that when heat builds up so quickly it can cause flames to move much quicker than people can walk. "[28], West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council was found to have failed in its duty under the Fire Precautions Act 1971. 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. 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 . Another player went into the office space to ensure there was nobody there. [47] Scriptwriters of the play spent hours with the survivors and victims families. Artist Paul Town, who now lives in Baildon, was 15 at the time of the fire. [4], Although there had been some changes to other parts of the ground, the main stand remained unaltered by 1985. The blaze quickly engulfed the stand as Bradford played Lincoln City and claimed the lives of 59 people on May 11, 1985. Representatives from the fire brigade were due to go to the club tomorrow to inspect it and see whether regulations were being observed. He is quoted as saying: "I don't believe the statement of retired Detective Inspector Raymond Falconer at all. The team's coach, Mr Terry Yorath, ran on to the pitch to try to help people away from the stand. The Bradford way was keep it to ourselves - it worked collectively that we did that. 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. A minute later he saw a small plume of smoke so he poured his coffee on it and so did his son. Burning timber and molten material began to fall onto the seating below and black smoke enveloped the passageway behind, where fans were trying to escape. However, the fire had consumed the stand entirely by that point and they were faced with huge flames and very dense smoke. Popplewell's report was nowhere close to the quality of Lord Justice Taylor's report after Hillsborough, and since reading it as an adult I have always been very disappointed in it and considered it a poor piece of work. When cross examined by QC Robert Smith, then Chairman Stafford Heginbotham said he knew about the fire risk at the ground. 1908 - Collinwood school fire, in Collinwood, Ohio (soon absorbed by Cleveland ), on March 4, killed 175. 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. 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. 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. Helm: "The scene became progressively horrendous, grotesque, and I was having to describe things you couldn't possibly imagine.". Bradford City had just won the Third Division Championship and a record number of spectators over 11,000 had turned out to see the club presented with its first piece of league silverware in 56 years. The smoke was choking. 'This was a dreadful afternoon. Exactly 79 years to the day after the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, another tragic fire occurred in New York City. And then suddenly, in the space of 120-odd seconds, it really kicked in. You may notice some big changes in Black Rock City this year. [30], The outcome of the test case resulted in over 154 claims being addressed (110 civilians and 44 police officers)[31] by the injured or bereaved. "[11] Police Superintendent Barry Osborne, divisional commander for the area, said many of his officers cried when they saw how badly people had been burned. "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. I do not include the people currently running the club, who have always displayed a great, sensitive duty to the memory of those who died. His son Christopher normally watches from the stand but on Saturday he joined other fans elsewhere. More than 250 others were injured in one of the biggest disasters at a British football ground. Two or three burly men put their weight against it and smashed the gate open. "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 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. Eighty names were unaccounted for and there were no positive indications about the cause of the fire. Website by, Bradford City FC stadium fire | 11th May 1985, Fundraising for firefighters and their families. 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. "The scene became progressively horrendous, grotesque, and I was having to describe things you couldn't possibly imagine.". Heginbotham died in 1995, aged 61, and was never prosecuted for the stadium fire, despite the coroner later saying he had given serious consideration to bringing a charge of manslaughter as the club had failed to act on three separate warnings about a potential fire risk. 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. BBC ON THIS DAY | 11 | 1985: Fans killed in Bradford stadium fire One family was in tears, the mother shaking. Brooklyn fire: Lumber storage warehouse in Williamsburg goes up in But a minute or so later there was suddenly a bigger whoosh of smoke so they went to get a steward. Come celebrate the beastly realm and our place in it and with it, an even more radically inclusive and sustainable city and global community in 2023: ANIMALIA! I have never had to deal with such a situation before, and this has put the city on its heels.'. Wealso use analytics cookies that don't track usersto help us improve it. Previous warnings had also been given about a major build-up of litter in the cavity below the seats in the stand. Stadium disasters have blighted the world of sport throughout modern history. Yet in 2015, allegations surfaced which shifted the focus to the club's then chairman, Stafford Heginbotham. ", IBT UK Morning Brief - Let the best of International News come to you. [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. Most of those who escaped onto the pitch were saved.[10]. 24 Bradford City A.F.C. I don't see that. 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. Martin Fletcher was talking to BBC Look North. One retired mill worker made his way to the pitch, but was walking about on fire from head to foot. The fire destroyed the main stand completely and left only burned seats, lamps and metal fences remaining. It was a gruesome sight to see bodies still sitting upright in their seats, covered in tarpaulin. 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. 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. 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. This included the banning of new wooden grandstands at all sports venues in the UK. ', Sports reporters covering the game also spoke of the disaster. "I got stuck against the wall with the weight of people behind me trying to get over. Speculation an Australian man started the Bradford City stadium fire in 1985 IT killed 56 people and destroyed an entire stadium. [38], The tragedy received immense media attention and drew support from around the world, with those offering their sympathy including Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II. The fire happened during a football match. 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. [39], The club's chairman, Stafford Heginbotham, said: "It was to be our day". 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. The man in charge of investigating the fire, Detective Superintendent Kevin Cooper was at the game. 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. Warning: Some readers may find parts of this content distressing. 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. 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. Now a new film claims an Australian was responsible for the worst . My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. "Me and my dad eventually got out safely but it was a bit of a struggle at one point because the walls getting down to the pitch level were quite high I didn't get a growth spurt until I was 16 or 17.". The main stand at Bradford was not surrounded by fencing, and therefore most of the spectators in it could escape onto the pitch if they had been penned in then the death toll would inevitably have been in the hundreds if not the thousands.