burning man bradford city stadium fire

[36], In 2010, Susan Fletcher's son and survivor of the Bradford City fire (and witness to the Hillsborough disaster), Martin Fletcher, openly criticised the club's hierarchy at the time of the fire and the subsequent investigation. There is no malicious vendetta, there is no over-exaggeration, there are no trumped-up facts. We accepted it was an accident, nobody wanted to blame the club because it was the club we wanted to support. 1908 - Rhoads Opera House fire, Boyertown, Pennsylvania, killed 170. But the sheer density of numbers coupled with the thick, choking smoke made people collapse. Website by, Bradford City FC stadium fire | 11th May 1985, Fundraising for firefighters and their families. Earlier this year, Town gave up working in construction to pursue painting full-time through his business Stadium Portraits. Four police officers, constables David Britton and John Richard Ingham and chief inspectors Charles Frederick Mawson and Terence Michael Slocombe, and two spectators, Richard Gough and David Hustler, were awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal for their actions. Hendrie: "Us players must have been in the tunnel for seconds - and I mean seconds. On the recording are Dene Michael (Black Lace), The Chuckle Brothers, Clive Jackson of Dr & The Medics, Owen Paul, Billy Pearce, Billy Shears, Flint Bedrock, Danny Tetley and Rick Wild of The Overlanders. 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. "Could any man really be as unlucky as Heginbotham had been?" "It's therapeutic and I've met so many people through doing this." 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. He asks the reader to make their mind up about whether these fires were a coincidence or not.". [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. It was the brainchild of Bradford City fan Lloyd Spencer with all profits going to the Bradford Royal Infirmary Burns Unit.[43]. I remember trying to make sense of what was going on. 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. Today, locals continue to raise money for the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit in memory of the victims of the fire. [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 was nearly double the season's average of 6,610 and included 3,000fans in the ground's main stand. We couldn't breathe. "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. The Bradford way was keep it to ourselves - it worked collectively that we did that. People were wandering around outside the ground in disbelief, reminiscent of an air disaster, at what had happened the day before. [11], The fire escalated very rapidly, and flames became visible; police started to evacuate the stand. [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. Town began to paint two years ago, first of the old Bradford Park Avenue ground, before moving onto other stadiums. 'They did not have a chance. He saw smoke coming from a small area of the stand and thought that someone had let off a flare. Parents and children were laughing and joking with the police as the preliminaries to the game began. Fletcher has been the only survivor to publicly challenge the inquiry's findings. Treatment of casualties and Burns Research Unit, Dramatisations, documentaries and published works, West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council, Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of accidents and disasters by death toll, List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll, "Hideous images linger after carnage of 'celebration' day", "Caught in Time: Bradford City win the Third Division, 1985", "EXCLUSIVE: Bradford's Valley Parade fire must be remembered like Hillsborough", "History of The Bradford Sling The Bradford Sling", "Bradford City football stadium blaze surgeon honoured", "Research centre to be living memorial to Bradford City FC fire disaster", "The Papers of the Popplewell Inquiry into Crowd Safety at Sports Grounds", "Popplewell Inquiry Bradford City Fire", "Bradford remembered: The unheeded warnings that led to tragedy", Joseph Canley summing up statement from test case court transcripts, Newspaper report from Sport and the Law April 21st 1989, "The Glasgow Herald Google News Archive Search", Los Angeles Times report on Bradford City test case findings, Court transcript from the test case brought by Susan Fletcher and Others against Bradford City and Others, "Bradford fire survivor attacks judge over Hillsborough comments", "The Story of the Bradford Fire: 'could any man really be as unlucky as Stafford Heginbotham? It was fairly clear that somebody had dropped a lighted match or cigarette between the floorboards.". Following his own 15 year investigation Into the fire, which killed four of his family members while he escaped, former tax accountant Martin Fletcher released 56: The Story of the Bradford Fire (2015). 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. Together, flanked by undocumented supporters, they managed to clear all but one person who made it to the front of the stand. "I parked my van outside because I started making enough money painting as I was in construction. It remains to be seen whether a new investigation will take place. [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. It slipped through a hole in the floorboard. "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. Fire disaster at football match (Bradford City stadium fire) - YouTube Sign in to confirm your age 0:00 / 5:23 Sign in to confirm your age This video may be inappropriate for some users.. It was clear from what the Chief Fire Officer for West Yorkshire, Mr Graham Karran, said yesterday that the ground was far from safe. (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. I remember trying to make sense of what was going on. Most of those who escaped onto the pitch were saved.[10]. I don't see that. The blame was through neglect, they didn't have the money to maintain the stand. Pendleton: "Many people still don't want to talk about the disaster. "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. He is quoted as saying: "I don't believe the statement of retired Detective Inspector Raymond Falconer at all. Copyright 2023 IBTimes UK. We sat in the main stand the week before, but we had decided to move on that day," he says. A few minutes later, he felt a thump on his back from his father, who told him to run. Some repair work was carried out, but in July 1984 the club was warned again, this time by a county council engineer, because of the club's plans to claim for ground improvements from the Football Trust. 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. The Bradford Disaster Appeal fund, set up within 48hours of the disaster, eventually raised over 3.5million (11.3million today). Instead it turned into a day of appalling tragedy. 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. Of the 56 people who died in the fire,[2] 54 were Bradford supporters and two supported Lincoln. 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. Footage of the accident at this point shows levels of confusion among the spectatorswhile many were trying to escape or to cross the pitch to the relative safety of the neighbouring stands, other spectators were observed cheering or waving to the still-rolling pitchside cameras. 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. Fifty people die in a fire in the grandstand at a soccer stadium in Bradford, England, on May 11, 1985. 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. "I was supposed to meet my father at my grandfather's house, but I was a bit late so I went straight to the game so I didn't miss the festivities.". Witnesses of the fire have come to terms with the tragedy in different ways. People were falling on to each other and screaming. Former Bradford midfielder John Hendrie, who was playing in the match: "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. "I was in the main stand when the fire happened," he says. The fire happened during a football match. The fire brigade arrived at the ground four minutes after they were initially alerted. 24 Bradford City A.F.C. Eighty names were unaccounted for and there were no positive indications about the cause of the fire. Pendleton: "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. His most recent painting is a powerful image; two fans in Bradford and Lincoln City kits, surrounded by 54 other figures. [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. "Some of the local residents opened their houses so people could make phone calls. The man in charge of investigating the fire, Detective Superintendent Kevin Cooper was at the game. They stood outside the headquarters, staring at nothing in particular. It transpired that the wooden stand had already been condemned and was set to be demolished just two days after the tragedy. And the black and twisted skeleton of the burnt stand stood out in the night. But many, including Harrison, believe it could unnecessarily reopen wounds if it does happen. 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. Burning Man.NYC. Sir Oliver Popplewell, the High Court judge who led the Valley Parade inquiry in 1985: "The scene when I arrived was horrendous. An ancient wooden spectator stand and a dropped cigarette - the ingredients for one of Britain's deadliest soccer tragedies. The stand had been officially condemned and was due to be replaced with a steel structure after the season ended. Nigel Adams who worked for 12 years as a fire investigator with a British fire service was spurred on by the book to join the call for a fresh inquiry, stating that Fletcher's book was "one of the best accounts of a fire, as seen from a victim's point of view, and as a piece of investigative writing, I have ever read". Tarpaulin fell on them and stuck to their clothes and then ignited. 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'. However, when Bradford City won promotion to the highest level of English football, Division One, in 1908, club officials sanctioned an upgrade programme. Bits of my arms, bits of my legs, part of my face, part of my scalp. Police had an official photographer at the game, watching for crowd disturbance. [11], The disaster also had a long-lasting effect on the fans. 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. Mike Harrison, the editor of the Bradford City Football Club fanzine The City Gent, was there on the day. "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. Others ran forward to try to clamber over a fence and a small wall on to the pitch. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. [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. I don't know where Falconer is getting this cock-and-bull story from the inaccuracies in this report [documentary] are dumbfounding. Although I was only 12 at the time, 11 May 1985 is a day. The fact is that no one person was concerned with the safety of the premises. It was a gruesome sight to see bodies still sitting upright in their seats, covered in tarpaulin. 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. It spelt out 'thank you fans'. Although some attributed Lincoln City's sudden demise to the psychological effects of the fire on its players (together with the resignation of successful manager Colin Murphy shortly before the fire), it symbolised the wider crisis that the introduction of new safety legislation brought to Lincoln's Sincil Bank home. More than 250 others were injured in one of the biggest disasters at a British football ground. Mr Tony Delahunte, who was presenting a programme from the ground for Pennine Radio, said 'The fire seemed to me to start with a smoke bomb. People were clambering over the wall on to the ground with their clothes and hair on fire. ", "If the inquiry is opened again, we will await to see what evidence there is to prove is wasn't an accident," he says. 1.7M subscribers in the CatastrophicFailure community. At 3.40pm, television commentator John Helm remarked upon a small fire in the main stand; in less than four minutes, with the windy conditions, the fire had engulfed the whole stand, trapping some people in their seats. The 4-alarm fire started in a one-story lumber storage building and spread to an adjacent building . "That was the legacy of the tragedy. [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. The scene in there was one of silence and shock. Crowds on the pitch at Bradford City's Valley Parade stadium after the stand caught fire, Bradford City fans pay tribute to the 56 fans who died the Bradford City stadium fire in 1985, The blaze causing the deaths of 56 supporters in one of the worst incidents in British football, Bradford artist Paul Town was inspired to paint after surviving the Valley Parade fire, Stay up to date with our daily newsletter, New book claims fatal 1985 Bradford City Valley Parade fire might have been started deliberately, Bradford City chairman 'linked to eight fires' before Valley Parade stadium disaster, Bradford City 0-0 Reading: Bantams hold Royals in quarter-final stalemate, David Alaba receives massive abuse for voting for Lionel Messi in The Best awards, Glazers' demands set to delay Manchester United takeover: reports, Man Utd beat West Ham to reach FA Cup quarters as Spurs crash out, Bahrain GP: F1 team rankings ahead of 2023 season-opener, Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Xavi admits Los Blancos still favourites to advance. [2] By 1911, his work was completed. Most of the fans who took this escape route were killed or seriously injured. [47] Scriptwriters of the play spent hours with the survivors and victims families. "[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. 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. 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. People were arriving in a daze outside Bradford police headquarters on Saturday evening and early yesterday. Fifty-six people died. Lincoln City chairman Bob Dorrian, centre, is joined by Former Imps Players Association chairman Trevor Swinburne, left, and chairman of the Red Imps. [48] Profits from the play's run at The Edinburgh Fringe were donated to the Bradford Burns Unit. Most Bradfordians have accepted the fire was a terrible misfortune. After 40 minutes of the first half, fans had begun to complain about the drab match and the 0-0 score. Martin Fletcher was talking to BBC Look North. Bradford, playing into a strong wind, were struggling to break down a Lincoln side already safe from relegation. 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. Samuel Firth, a founder of the supporters' club, was the oldest victim at 86; four 11-year-old boys were the youngest. This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 13:41. 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. There was a bit of paper on fire, but it was so small.". 48,785 Location Lake Jonathan Creek The footage never gets any less shocking. Stadium disasters have blighted the world of sport throughout modern history. Fifty-six people died. 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.

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