As he scaled the brick perimeter wall at the front, his father stayed behind to help others escape. It transpired that the wooden stand had already been condemned and was set to be demolished just two days after the tragedy. But many, including Harrison, believe it could unnecessarily reopen wounds if it does happen. Everybody in the city was devastated, but there was an amazing number of volunteers. Most Bradfordians have accepted the fire was a terrible misfortune. The wooden roof that burned was scheduled to be replaced by a steel roof later that same . "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. We had not been told anything.". Fifty people die in a fire in the grandstand at a soccer stadium in Bradford, England, on May 11, 1985. The Bradford Burns Unit was set up by Professor David Sharpe after he received many of the victims following the fire. "Then we ran out in our tracksuits each holding a massive card with a letter. 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. Bradford council introduced its emergency plans procedure yesterday to give aid to many families affected by the disaster. I hope you enjoy some of the fascinating stories we have here.#History #Disasters The stand had already been condemned, and the demolition teams were due to start work two days later. There is no malicious vendetta, there is no over-exaggeration, there are no trumped-up facts. I asked the director to get the camera to go a little closer. An inquiry launched in the aftermath of the disaster led to legislation to improve safety at football grounds. 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. 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 stadium fire. A football match in Bradford UK ends When Town reached the Midland Road side of the pitch, he was faced with horrific scenes of the injured being treated and comforted by ambulance crews, fans and players. Tarpaulin fell on them and stuck to their clothes and then ignited. 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. [4], Although there had been some changes to other parts of the ground, the main stand remained unaltered by 1985. And all you could smell was burning.". The fundraising events included a reunion of the 1966 World Cup Final Starting XI that began with the original starting teams of both England and West Germany, and was held at Leeds United's stadium, Elland Road, in July 1985 to raise funds for the Appeal fund. Bradford City stadium fire: BBC documentary says Aussie man to blame "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. The Bradford city stadium fire. 56 people died when a - reddit More than 250 others were injured in one of the. He appealed to people to be patient while forensic experts identified bodies. There was a bit of paper on fire, but it was so small.". The Bradford way was keep it to ourselves - it worked collectively that we did that. He went on to state: "In 1985 fire investigation in Britain was in its infancy and some would say at that time most fire investigators were not much more than dust-kickers. The stand had been officially condemned and was due to be replaced with a steel structure after the season ended. 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. Witnesses of the fire have come to terms with the tragedy in different ways. People were arriving in a daze outside Bradford police headquarters on Saturday evening and early yesterday. 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". Hillsborough looms the largest in our collective consciousness, but there were also the many deaths that occurred at Heysel Stadium in 1985, as well as the Bradford City stadium fire that same year. The whole fire seemed to erupt in seconds,' he said. 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. Those are the words of David Pendleton, a survivor of the Bradford City fire disaster, which happened 30 years ago. ", On 26 January 2016, the IPCC declined calls for an investigation and published its full response online. Bradford fire: the horrors and the silence that had to be broken Daniel Taylor The policewoman assigned to the grieving Fletchers gets goosebumps when she looks back to 30 years ago. Bradford City fire was started by a tourist who dropped a cigarette However, the responsibility of the Club is, in my view, very much the greater and I apportion responsibility between the two defendants as to two-thirds on the first defendant and one-third on the third (sic) defendant. 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.. "All you could see was black cloud. We couldn't breathe. "[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. For the 30th anniversary of the fire a new version of "You'll Never Walk Alone" was recorded at Voltage Studios in Bradford. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. After Hillsborough, the Bradford City FC stadium fire was the second worst sporting tragedy in England, leaving 56 dead and at least 265 injured. An ancient wooden spectator stand and a dropped cigarette - the ingredients for one of Britain's deadliest soccer tragedies. [10] One eyewitness, Geoffrey Mitchell, told the BBC: "It spread like a flash. Valley Parade during the early 1990s, after it had been redeveloped following the fire. 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. All you could hear was sirens and screams. As the blaze spread, the wooden stands and roofcovered with layers of highly flammable bituminous roofing feltquickly went ablaze. Christmas Day is supposed to be happy and pleasant, a time to gather with loved ones for a chill and relaxing celebration. [10] Of those who died, 11 were under-18 and 23 were aged 65 or over,[20] and the oldest victim was the club's former chairman, Sam Firth, aged 86. You could hardly breathe. There has been reports of people lighting paper under the seats, and it was important that as many fans as possible who were in the stand or at the Kop end contacted the police. [10][16] Geoffrey Mitchell said: "There was panic as fans stampeded to an exit which was padlocked. His father Tony went back the following day and said: "I wondered how anybody had got out alive, but I also began to feel guilty that I had got out when so many hadn't." "When I got to one of the final walls, there was an eight-foot drop at the other side, concrete at the bottom. We were given the trophy before the game in front of the supporters and had to do a lap of honour. Exactly 79 years to the day after the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, another tragic fire occurred in New York City. Those who rescued people were themselves burned in the process. There is a twin memorial sculpture, unveiled on 11 May 1986, which has the names of the dead inscribed on it. 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. Mr Delahunte was screaming into his microphone describing the scene until it became impossible to continue broadcasting. [48] Profits from the play's run at The Edinburgh Fringe were donated to the Bradford Burns Unit. Most of those who escaped onto the pitch were saved.[10]. Bits of my arms, bits of my legs, part of my face, part of my scalp. The flames suddenly appeared and the whole roof took alight,' he said. I looked down and I saw my hands melting. However, when Bradford City won promotion to the highest level of English football, Division One, in 1908, club officials sanctioned an upgrade programme. It wasn't until later on when assistant manager Terry Yorath came in and said: 'It's not good.'". Lincoln City chairman Bob Dorrian, centre, is joined by Former Imps Players Association chairman Trevor Swinburne, left, and chairman of the Red Imps. Many who had walked out of the fire stood on the pitch looking back in horror as the flames destroyed the stand. I've never seen anything like it. It was unprecedented.". It made me realise life is too short and I'm a happier person for it.". Within a few hours of the blaze starting, it was established that 56 people had been killed, many as a result of smoke inhalation, although some of them had survived until reaching hospital.[11]. Within five minutes the whole stand was engulfed in flames. There was a bit of paper on fire, but it was so small.". The stand slopes downwards from the South Parade. One man in tears said: 'He looked as if he was just going for a stroll. "I looked up and saw the flames. Those are the words of David Pendleton, a survivor of the Bradford City fire disaster, which happened 30 years ago. [47] Scriptwriters of the play spent hours with the survivors and victims families. What Is Burning Man? He was helped out of the stand by other fans and spent a period of time in hospital. The 51 other bodies of children, women and men were so badly burned that identification will take many days. "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. I remember trying to make sense of what was going on. Police officers also assisted in the rescue attempts. Wildman: "I was burnt from top to bottom, on and off. [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. [10] The stand seats did not have risers; this had allowed a large accumulation of rubbish and paper waste in the cavity space under the stand, which had not been cleared for many months. He is quoted as saying: "I don't believe the statement of retired Detective Inspector Raymond Falconer at all. I'd seen the film on the Saturday but the bleakness of the stadium burnt out, and the gloom that afflicted everybody, was dreadful. Pendleton: "Many people still don't want to talk about the disaster. We went there to win the last game in front of a home crowd. [46], In 2014, the theatre company Funny You Should Ask (FYSA) premiered their heartfelt tribute to the 56 people who died at the fire. Copyright , Fire Brigades Union, 2023. We use necessary cookies to make our site work. (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. 'The fire just spread along the length of the stand in seconds. [2] By 1911, his work was completed. Bradford City stadium fire: The untold stories of the 1985 fire
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