"That was the moment that I realised not everybody was going to get out. Burning Man is an event focused on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance held annually in the western United States. "I feel such information should be made public and people should look at those facts, then make their mind up on those facts. "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. Some days I had two operations in a day. "We went out on to the pitch and I could see so many happy faces. "We couldn't run back down the tunnel. The smoke was choking. He appealed to people to be patient while forensic experts identified bodies. Helm: "There was a throw-in in front of the stand where the fire started - something caught my eye. It was the brainchild of Bradford City fan Lloyd Spencer with all profits going to the Bradford Royal Infirmary Burns Unit.[43]. [26], In July 1985, an inquest was held into the deaths; at the hearings the coroner James Turnbull recommended a death by misadventure outcome, with which the jury agreed. The stories of escapes are legion. The mood before the match on the 11 May 1985 against Lincoln City was one of jubilation. 'I have to tell you that the fire was so intense that identifying people is going to be the great problem we have to face.'. One man clambered over burning seats to help a fan,[18] as did player John Hawley,[15] and one officer led fans to an exit, only to find it shut and had to turn around. It made me realise life is too short and I'm a happier person for it.". At Valley Parade there are now two memorials. ", "There was a throw-in in front of the stand where the fire started - something caught my eye. However, the fire had consumed the stand entirely by that point and they were faced with huge flames and very dense smoke. [1] When the association football club was formed, the ground was changed very little and had no covered accommodation. Guided by the values expressed by the 10 Principles, Burning Man is a global ecosystem of artists, makers, and community organizers who co-create art, events, and local initiatives around the world. "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. Stories From 11 May. 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. 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. There were no fire extinguishers. The stadium was known for its antiquated design and facilities, which included the wooden roof of the main stand. People were clambering over the wall on to the ground with their clothes and hair on fire. Bradford City were supposed to be celebrating on 11 May 1985. We had not been told anything.". It is a simple account laid out for all to see. [5] However, he also warned the club of a build-up of litter beneath the stand because of a gap between the seats. Sign up and stay up to date with our daily newsletter. Wildman: "I was dragged on to the pitch and into a line of people, who couldn't do much for themselves and were lying there. Steel was to be installed in the roof,[8] and the wooden terracing was to be replaced with concrete. "[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. People were falling on to each other and screaming. Witnesses of the fire have come to terms with the tragedy in different ways. 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". A Bradford Disaster Appeal Fund raised 3.5m for the victims and their families. Speculation an Australian man started the Bradford City stadium fire in 1985 IT killed 56 people and destroyed an entire stadium. 05/10/15 AT 12:00 PM BST Crowds on the pitch at Bradford City's Valley Parade stadium after the stand caught fire Getty Images Fifty-six people were killed, 265 were injured and thousands. "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.". The 51 other bodies of children, women and men were so badly burned that identification will take many days. "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. 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. 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. And the black and twisted skeleton of the burnt stand stood out in the night. 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. Now a new film claims an Australian was responsible for the worst . Today marks the 35th anniversary of one of the worst disasters in the history of British football. 527 votes, 98 comments. Of the 56 people who died in the fire,[2] 54 were Bradford supporters and two supported Lincoln. Martin Fletcher was talking to BBC Look North. [] I still have terrible memories of the day, but it is the humanity of those that helped us that I reflect on."[41]. 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. "The scene when I arrived was horrendous. [19] One fan put his jumper over a fellow supporter's head to extinguish flames. Wildman: "I was burnt from top to bottom, on and off. 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. It occurred during a league match in front of record numbers of spectators, on Saturday, 11 May 1985, killing 56 and injuring at least 265. 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. 1.7M subscribers in the CatastrophicFailure community. 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. "All you could see was black cloud. I remember trying to make sense of what was going on. 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. [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. 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. 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.. As the blaze spread, the wooden stands and roofcovered with layers of highly flammable bituminous roofing feltquickly went ablaze. He was actually one of the detectives involved in one of the gravest miscarriages of justices in the country, the murder of Carol Wilkinson in Bradford, where someone was locked up for 20 years for a murder he didn't commit."[60]. Then the flames and smoke were all over the place.'. Just look at how many people were standing around just 50-60 meters away from the blazing inferno. Yet many of those with terrible memories of the tragedy also take heart in the compassion born out of the devastation. "Some of the local residents opened their houses so people could make phone calls. She was hysterical and trying to find her three children. Many who had walked out of the fire stood on the pitch looking back in horror as the flames destroyed the stand. There is no malicious vendetta, there is no over-exaggeration, there are no trumped-up facts. Surviving supporters, former Bradford players, the sole television commentator at the stadium and the judge who led the government inquiry tell the BBC about that fateful afternoon and its aftermath. "I was operated on every other day because I had so many burns and so many areas to work on. 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. 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. BurningMan.NYC will announce the dates and process for the 2023 grant cycle on this site & all BurningMan.NYC social channels in early Spring. [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. 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 itself was engulfed in seconds, almost as if petrol had been ignited throughout the block. I was there in hospital for eight weeks - it felt like a lifetime. "Could any man really be as unlucky as Heginbotham had been?" We were sat in our football kit, we didn't know what to do. The stadium was known for its antiquated design and facilities, which included the wooden roof of the main stand. We went there to win the last game in front of a home crowd. It remains to be seen whether a new investigation will take place. Fifty-six people died. Fifty-six people died. Our world has a varied history full of terrible tragedies, bizarre tales, unexplained events, and extravagant people. ", Popplewell: "I'm sorry to spoil what is obviously a very good story, but I'm afraid it is nonsense for many reasons.". We didn't know how serious it was.". Someone came in and shouted: 'Get out, get out there's a fire'. It was clear from what the Chief Fire Officer for West Yorkshire, Mr Graham Karran, said yesterday that the ground was far from safe. Bradford City initially prospered in the Second Division only missing out on promotion to the First Division in 1988 after failing to beat Ipswich Town at home on the final day of their first full season back at Valley Parade. He started to walk home, unsure of what had happened to his father. "[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. They stood outside the headquarters, staring at nothing in particular. There were queues of people outside houses, which obviously wouldn't happen nowadays. Supporters either ran upwards to the back of the stand or downwards to the pitch to escape. I had no idea. Pendleton: "I walked past a public telephone outside the ground and there were queues of people waiting to ring home to say: 'I'm OK'. Your brain tells you, you are not going anywhere. [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. Some of the dead were found at the bottom of these steps. People had walked through turnstiles and along a wooden corridor before descending the steps into their seats. 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. [16] Messages of condolence were also received from Helmut Kohl, Chedli Klibi and Felipe Gonzlez. 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. Listen to Valley Parade: Bradford City Fire Remembered on BBC Radio Leeds (18:00 BST) and BBC Radio 5 live (21:00 BST). However, as there was no real precedent, most Bradfordians accepted that the fire was a terrible piece of misfortune. Pendleton: "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. This day was for them. Eighty names were unaccounted for and there were no positive indications about the cause of the fire. [10][11], Bradford's Telegraph & Argus newspaper published a souvenir issue for 11 May, entitled, "Spit and Polish for the Parade Ground". People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. 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. The speed at which fire engulfs the entire stand is insane. "I saw people die in the stand - but it was only until then that I realised the scale of it.". [47] Scriptwriters of the play spent hours with the survivors and victims families. [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. Keep an eye out as you ride your bike through the city you will see a new solar-powered Man, fewer gas and . Mr Delahunte was screaming into his microphone describing the scene until it became impossible to continue broadcasting. [6] 1908 - Parker Building, New York City, January 10. "The one thing I remember at the time is we were grateful that we got an answer quickly after the inquiry. Mike Harrison, the editor of the Bradford City Football Club fanzine The City Gent, was there on the day. In the last few years, the BCFC kit-man John Duckworth did a sponsored 73-mile walk between Lincoln's Sincil Bank stadium and Valley Parade, joined by Bradford fans along the way. 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. Since then, it has been further re-developed and, today, Valley Parade is a modern 25,136 all-seater stadium, which is virtually unrecognisable from how it was at the time of the disaster, save for the original clubhouse that still stands beside the main stand, and the flank support wall that runs down the Hollywell Ash Lane at the "Bradford End". One retired mill worker made his way to the pitch, but was walking about on fire from head to foot. "Several minutes before half-time I saw there was a wee bit of bother. Bradford City stadium fire: The untold stories of the 1985 fire that devastated Valley Parade Thirty years after football's 'forgotten tragedy', the truth of what exactly happened when 56. 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. 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. Those who rescued people were themselves burned in the process. "If we were fed a lie about it being an accident, then we will be educated. The fire happened during a football match. But many, including Harrison, believe it could unnecessarily reopen wounds if it does happen. People pushed him to the ground and tried to smother the flames. There was hardly anything left of him.'. The government inquiry into the disaster concluded the fire spread "faster than a man could run". The flames suddenly appeared and the whole roof took alight,' he said. The fire at Bradford City's Valley Parade stadium in which 56 people died and more than 270 were injured is remembered 25 years on. Of the 56people who died in the fire,[2] 54 were Bradford supporters and two supported Lincoln. "That's when I thought 'this is time to get out of here'. I rolled over on my head, jumped up and ran off.". The Bradford Burns Unit was set up by Professor David Sharpe after he received many of the victims following the fire. We were sat in our football kit, we didn't know what to do. People were arriving in a daze outside Bradford police headquarters on Saturday evening and early yesterday. When the game began there was no way out for them, except by going on to the pitch. [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. Some people seem to have run back up the slope, thinking that they could get back through the turnstiles, and were burned alive. "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. Then flames licked the underside of the seats, which were a combination of wood and plastic. 05/12/15 AT 9:58 AM BST Crowds on the pitch at the Valley Parade stadium after a stand caught fire Getty Images Police have revealed the identity of the man who they believe was responsible. While Valley Parade was re-developed, Bradford City played games at various neighbouring grounds: Elland Road, Leeds; Leeds Road, Huddersfield; and Odsal Stadium, Bradford. An ancient wooden spectator stand and a dropped cigarette - the ingredients for one of Britain's deadliest soccer tragedies. ", Hendrie: "We stayed in the pub for hours. 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. 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 . Ironically, off-duty firemen were at the ground selling raffle tickets for a charity football match which should have been held yesterday. It wasn't until later on when assistant manager Terry Yorath came in and said: 'It's not good.'". Others ran forward to try to clamber over a fence and a small wall on to the pitch. "[23], On the 25th anniversary of the fire, the University of Bradford established the United Kingdom's largest academic research centre in skin sciences as an extension to its plastic surgery and burns research unit.[24]. I have never had to deal with such a situation before, and this has put the city on its heels.'.
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