[10][11], Bradford's Telegraph & Argus newspaper published a souvenir issue for 11 May, entitled, "Spit and Polish for the Parade Ground". In March 1985 the club's plans became more apparent when it took delivery of steel for a new roof. "A disaster is not black and white - it is a mass of factors.". I was there in hospital for eight weeks - it felt like a lifetime. Fifty-six people died. Eighty names were unaccounted for and there were no positive indications about the cause of the fire. Within five minutes the whole stand was engulfed in flames. "We went out on to the pitch and I could see so many happy faces. Somebody looked round and grabbed me by the hood of my coat to pull me over. 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. Fire on Upper Castle Street, Bradford Yorkshire Evening Post On This Day 1985: The Bradford City Fire 0:15 Bradford Mill fire 24:43 The Bradford Fire 0:26 Large fire in Bradford Yorkshire Evening Post Bradford Mill fire 0:34 Bradford Great Horton Mill fire 0:10 Fire at Bradford school (video: Glynn Beck) 4:05 bradford city fc fire 1985 "We stayed in the pub for hours. Pendleton: "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. Hundreds more telephoned the police to try to trace relatives. Watch Missed Warnings on BBC One in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire at 22:45 BST on Tuesday, 12 May. (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. "Some of the local residents opened their houses so people could make phone calls. So I threw myself over the wall and luckily someone dived in to catch me before I hit the floor.". Wealso use analytics cookies that don't track usersto help us improve it. 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. Helm: "There was a throw-in in front of the stand where the fire started - something caught my eye. While Valley Parade was re-developed, Bradford City played games at various neighbouring grounds: Elland Road, Leeds; Leeds Road, Huddersfield; and Odsal Stadium, Bradford. At the time, however, Harrison says, Bradford just wanted to move on. We sat in the main stand the week before, but we had decided to move on that day," he says. Other parents whose children had not arrived home on Saturday called at the police station or sat in cars outside, waiting for news. " Burning Man," " Burning Man Project," " Black Rock City ", and . Many who had walked out of the fire stood on the pitch looking back in horror as the flames destroyed the stand. "That's when I thought 'this is time to get out of here'. The Bradford way was keep it to ourselves - it worked collectively that we did that. 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]. It has a black marble fascia on which the names and ages of those that died are inscribed in gold, and a black marble platform on which people can leave flowers and mementos. "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. All Rights Reserved. One, now re-situated to that end of the stand where the fire began, is a sculpture donated on the initial re-opening of Valley Parade in December 1986 by Sylvia Graucob, a then Jersey-based former West Yorkshire woman. We accepted it was an accident, nobody wanted to blame the club because it was the club we wanted to support. The scene in there was one of silence and shock. Videos, gifs, or aftermath photos of machinery, structures, or devices I had to put my jumper over his hair to put the blaze out. Mr Delahunte was screaming into his microphone describing the scene until it became impossible to continue broadcasting. 1909 - Flores Theater fire, Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico, on February 15, killed 250. Your brain tells you, you are not going anywhere. 56 people dead. [31] In 1988, the first compensation payments were made to survivors of the fire, with over 40 people receiving up to 40,000 each. 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. "I want the truth to be out, the myths to be broken, so that I can get on with my life rather than knowing this information and having to live with this information. Stadium disasters have blighted the world of sport throughout modern history. Previous warnings had also been given about a major build-up of litter in the cavity below the seats in the stand. ", IBT UK Morning Brief - Let the best of International News come to you. Bradford city council officials, off-duty policemen and guests from Bradford 's twin town, Munchengladbach, were there to celebrate. 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. 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'. 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. The only fire extinguishers in the ground were in the clubroom, which is also in the main stand. We didn't know how serious it was.". From 50 to 60 yards away, it was burning our faces it was unbearable. Copyright , Fire Brigades Union, 2023. ', Sports reporters covering the game also spoke of the disaster. "[28], West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council was found to have failed in its duty under the Fire Precautions Act 1971. He saw smoke coming from a small area of the stand and thought that someone had let off a flare. [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. "If we were fed a lie about it being an accident, then we will be educated. 527 votes, 98 comments. Led by former England international Trevor Cherry, the Bantams won only their third divisional title and earned a return to the second tier of English football for the first time since 1937. Two or three burly men put their weight against it and smashed the gate open. Everybody in the city was devastated, but there was an amazing number of volunteers. I don't see that. "[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. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. The mood before the match on the 11 May 1985 against Lincoln City was one of jubilation. 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. 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. Earlier this year, Town gave up working in construction to pursue painting full-time through his business Stadium Portraits. People had walked through turnstiles and along a wooden corridor before descending the steps into their seats. Fans in the next stand (the "Bradford End") pulled down the fence separating them from the pitch. It was nearly double the season's average of 6,610 and included 3,000fans in the ground's main stand. The wooden roof that burned was scheduled to be replaced by a steel roof later that same . We were sat in our football kit, we didn't know what to do. The team's coach, Mr Terry Yorath, ran on to the pitch to try to help people away from the stand. "The scene when I arrived was horrendous. But I've never spoken to anyone who thought the fire wasn't anything other than a tragic accident. It's a nice little business and it's something positive that came out of a tragedy. All that was left of. "As well as those who lost their lives or were injured, there are the relatives and friends, the others who were at the game, and those who would normally have gone to the match but decided not to that day. Coach Terry Yorath described the events as "the worst day in my life. The name of the event comes from its culminating ceremony: the symbolic burning of a large wooden effigy, referred to as the Man, that occurs on the penultimate night of Burning Man, which is the Saturday evening before Labor Day. Sir Oliver Popplewell, the High Court judge who led the Valley Parade inquiry in 1985: "The scene when I arrived was horrendous. It was also a catalyst for the substantial redevelopment and modernisation of many British football grounds within the following thirty years. There is a twin memorial sculpture, unveiled on 11 May 1986, which has the names of the dead inscribed on it. "I know it's a clich to say that, but it's true.". [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. 'This was a dreadful afternoon. The scene in there was one of silence and shock. His most recent painting is a powerful image; two fans in Bradford and Lincoln City kits, surrounded by 54 other figures. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. People were wandering around outside the ground in disbelief, reminiscent of an air disaster, at what had happened the day before. 1908 - Rhoads Opera House fire, Boyertown, Pennsylvania, killed 170. "[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 flames suddenly appeared and the whole roof took alight,' he said. "[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. Original television coverage of the fire, as caught by cameras covering the match. ", Hendrie: "We stayed in the pub for hours. It was unprecedented.". We wanted to record the trophy presentation. Cigarette smoking was also banned at all grounds with wooden stands. Sign up and stay up to date with our daily newsletter. It remains to be seen whether a new investigation will take place. [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 game was irrelevant.". The speed at which fire engulfs the entire stand is insane. Christopher Hammond, who was 12 on the day, said on the 20th anniversary of the fire: "As a 12-year-old, it was easy to move on I didn't realise how serious it was until I looked at the press coverage over the next few days. 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'. It was an awful thing to watch.". [10][16] Geoffrey Mitchell said: "There was panic as fans stampeded to an exit which was padlocked. I rolled over on my head, jumped up and ran off.". His son Christopher normally watches from the stand but on Saturday he joined other fans elsewhere. The timber construction of St. Andrew's Stand, Main Stand and the roof of its popular Railway End terrace were immediately condemned as fire hazards, which saw seating capacity briefly cut to nil. "The referee blew his whistle to stop the game and told us to get back to the dressing room.". There is no malicious vendetta, there is no over-exaggeration, there are no trumped-up facts. "I got stuck against the wall with the weight of people behind me trying to get over. Warning: Some readers may find parts of this content distressing. Fletcher, who was 12 at the time of the fire, does not make any direct allegations but he does believe Heginbotham's history with fires resulting in payouts of around 27m in today's terms warrants further investigation. People were clambering over the wall on to the ground with their clothes and hair on fire. It was appalling that public money was given to the club while it was still owned by the same shareholders under whose direction the fire had happened. 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. This day was for them. Helm: "The scene became progressively horrendous, grotesque, and I was having to describe things you couldn't possibly imagine.". At the time of the disaster, many stadiums had perimeter fencing between the stands and the pitch to prevent incidents of football hooliganism particularly pitch invasions which were rife during the 1980s. Lincoln City's board responded by committing 1.1million (3.5million today) to their ground's renovation in the year that immediately followed the fire at Valley Parade, and over the following decade made improvements that eventually totalled 3million. "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. You may notice some big changes in Black Rock City this year. The 51 other bodies of children, women and men were so badly burned that identification will take many days. Bradford, playing into a strong wind, were struggling to break down a Lincoln side already safe from relegation. "I walked past a public telephone outside the ground and there were queues of people waiting to ring home to say: 'I'm OK'. [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. Tarpaulin fell on them and stuck to their clothes and then ignited. I saw a group of people around the smoke laughing. As many supporters still required rescue from the stand, they were unable to immediately start fighting the source of the fire. The fire at a Brooklyn lumber storage building sent plumes of smoke over Williamsburg on Tuesday. Of the 56people who died in the fire,[2] 54 were Bradford supporters and two supported Lincoln. 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. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. We had not been told anything.". [11], The fire escalated very rapidly, and flames became visible; police started to evacuate the stand. Supporters either ran upwards to the back of the stand or downwards to the pitch to escape. But all the people being treated, we formed a family, a bond.". I had no idea. A few minutes later, he felt a thump on his back from his father, who told him to run. "Then we ran out in our tracksuits each holding a massive card with a letter. 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. [5] However, he also warned the club of a build-up of litter beneath the stand because of a gap between the seats. Although I was only 12 at the time, 11 May 1985 is a day. 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. He was completely on fire and it looked as though he simply did not know what had happened to him.'. 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. The book also raises concerns about the speed of the inquiry and the fact that it commenced a few weeks after the fire and lasted for only a few days, whereas other inquiries into similar incidents, pre and post the Bradford fire, have taken years to come to fruition and months to be heard. 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. That's when everybody else had the same thought. I've never seen anything like it. We had not been told anything.". 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]. 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". Called 'The 56' the play dramatises actual accounts of the Bradford City Fire with the purpose of the play showing how in times of adversity, the Football Club and the local community came together. It was fairly clear that somebody had dropped a lighted match or cigarette between the floorboards.". It spelt out 'thank you fans'. [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. Radiated heat from the burning roof of the stand set fire to the clothing of fans trapped underneath. [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. The 1984-85 season had been one of the most successful in Bradford City's 82-year history. "I parked my van outside because I started making enough money painting as I was in construction. I saw one man lying on the ground, burning from head to foot. The Popplewell Inquiry found that a discarded cigarette and an accumulation of litter beneath the stand were to blame.