Witnesses of the fire have come to terms with the tragedy in different ways. [46], In 2014, the theatre company Funny You Should Ask (FYSA) premiered their heartfelt tribute to the 56 people who died at the fire. [8][10] Three men smashed down one door and at least one exit was opened by people outside, which again helped prevent further deaths. [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. 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. [31] In 1988, the first compensation payments were made to survivors of the fire, with over 40 people receiving up to 40,000 each. [10] Bradford City's coach Terry Yorath, whose family was in the stand,[19] ran onto the pitch to help evacuate people. Another player went into the office space to ensure there was nobody there. ', Sports reporters covering the game also spoke of the disaster. "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.". 56 people dead. It made me realise life is too short and I'm a happier person for it.". We were given the trophy before the game in front of the supporters and had to do a lap of honour. The fire brigade arrived at the ground four minutes after they were initially alerted. It seemed to put it out. [14] It took less than four minutes for the entire stand to be engulfed in flames.[11]. 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. Most of the exits at the back were locked or shut and there were no stewards present to open them, but seven were forced open or found open. They were hampered further by the fact that doors at the back of the stand were locked to try to stop people coming in without paying. "I parked my van outside because I started making enough money painting as I was in construction. Bradford City continues to support the burns unit at the University of Bradford as its official charity. What Is Burning Man? Someone came in and shouted: 'Get out, get out there's a fire'. 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". 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! Martin Fletcher, a Bradford fan who lost three generations of his family in the fire, published a memoir of the tragic event called Fifty-Six The Story Of The Bradford Fire, in which he claimed the blaze at Valley Parade was one of nine fires at businesses owned by or associated with Heginbotham. There was a bit of paper on fire, but it was so small.". The firemen who arrived there were met by a wall of flame and dense black smoke. People who had escaped the fire then tried to assist their fellow supporters. He appealed to people to be patient while forensic experts identified bodies. [11] Those who escaped were taken out of the ground to neighbouring homes and a pub, where a television screened World of Sport, which broadcast video recorded of the fire just an hour after it was filmed. Bits of my arms, bits of my legs, part of my face, part of my scalp. 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. [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. Loading. 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. [49], Parrs Wood Press published Four Minutes to Hell: The Story of the Bradford City Fire (2005) by author Paul Firth;[50] the title refers to the estimated time it took for the stand to be completely ablaze from the first flames being spotted. Former Bradford midfielder John Hendrie, who was playing in the match: "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. 'The smoke was very, very dense. Someone came in and shouted: 'Get out, get out there's a fire'. Cigarette smoking was also banned at all grounds with wooden stands. 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. My hands suffered the most because they were exposed the most. [39], The club's chairman, Stafford Heginbotham, said: "It was to be our day". Artist Paul Town, who now lives in Baildon, was 15 at the time of the fire. His son Christopher normally watches from the stand but on Saturday he joined other fans elsewhere. We had to run up the stairs, through the office doors and out on to the street. The fire started five minutes before half-time during the match on 11 May between Bradford and Lincoln City. Edited by BBC Sport's Jonathan Jurejko. I ran to the stand and tried to help people escape. One letter from the council said the problems "should be rectified as soon as possible"; a second said: "A carelessly discarded cigarette could give rise to a fire risk." There were many cases of heroism, with more than 50 people later receiving police awards or commendations for bravery. "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. "[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. [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. There were no fire extinguishers. It is repeated across the country on BBC Two at 23:20 BST on Wednesday, 13 May. One woman was seen running around the ground with no skin on her arms and face. And all you could smell was burning.". 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. 1985: Fans killed in Bradford stadium fire. Fans in the next stand (the "Bradford End") pulled down the fence separating them from the pitch. [10][11], Bradford's Telegraph & Argus newspaper published a souvenir issue for 11 May, entitled, "Spit and Polish for the Parade Ground". Listen to Valley Parade: Bradford City Fire Remembered on BBC Radio Leeds (18:00 BST) and BBC Radio 5 live (21:00 BST). [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. The blaze, at the Happy Land Social Club in the Bronx, killed 87 people, the . 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. Some of the dead were found at the bottom of these steps. Most recognizably, tens of thousands of Burners gather annually to build Black Rock City, a participative temporary metropolis . 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. Of the 56 people who died in the fire,[2] 54 were Bradford supporters and two supported Lincoln. "I was in the main stand when the fire happened," he says. He lit a cigarette and when it was coming to an end he put it down on to the floorboard and tried to put his foot on it to put it out. 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. However as the game against Lincoln progressed, a fire began just before half-time in the stand that ran alongside the pitch. "We couldn't run back down the tunnel. Some people seem to have run back up the slope, thinking that they could get back through the turnstiles, and were burned alive. Fletcher said that "The club at the time took no actual responsibility for its actions and nobody has ever really been held accountable for the level of negligence which took place. Exactly 79 years to the day after the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, another tragic fire occurred in New York City. The stand itself was engulfed in seconds, almost as if petrol had been ignited throughout the block. "[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. ", On 26 January 2016, the IPCC declined calls for an investigation and published its full response online. Recommended The untold stories of the 1985 fire Helm: "There was a throw-in in front of the stand where the fire started - something caught my eye. Everybody in the city was devastated, but there was an amazing number of volunteers. It was fairly clear that somebody had dropped a lighted match or cigarette between the floorboards.". More than 250 others were injured in one of the. The Bradford Burns Unit was set up by Professor David Sharpe after he received many of the victims following the fire. Your brain tells you, you are not going anywhere. Supporters either ran upwards to the back of the stand or downwards to the pitch to escape. As the blaze spread, the wooden stands and roofcovered with layers of highly flammable bituminous roofing feltquickly went ablaze. [51] Another book; 56: The Story of the Bradford Fire (2015) was written by Martin Fletcher to discuss how the disaster was caused, and follows his loss of his father, brother, uncle and grandfather. [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. "The scene when I arrived was horrendous. 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. "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. Then flames licked the underside of the seats, which were a combination of wood and plastic. he asks. [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. Television cameras spotted the outbreak of fire in Valley Parade's main stand at 15:40 BST. "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. Two or three burly men put their weight against it and smashed the gate open. His face was burned and his car, which he had parked outside the ground, was destroyed. [5] However, he also warned the club of a build-up of litter beneath the stand because of a gap between the seats. As he received the injured at Bradford Royal Infirmary he was able to call upon 10% of the UK's population of plastic surgeons. [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. 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). The stand had been officially condemned and was due to be replaced with a steel structure after the season ended. "All I could see was eerie white lights that the fire brigade had set up and the smoke still in the sky. It was nearly double the season's average of 6,610 and included 3,000fans in the ground's main stand. The whole fire seemed to erupt in seconds,' he said. Today marks the 35th anniversary of one of the worst disasters in the history of British football. 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. [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. "I saw people die in the stand - but it was only until then that I realised the scale of it.". 'They did not have a chance. A police officer shouted to a colleague for an extinguisher, but his call was misheard and instead the fire brigade were radioed. Others ran forward to try to clamber over a fence and a small wall on to the pitch. People were wandering around outside the ground in disbelief, reminiscent of an air disaster, at what had happened the day before. "The fire still has a big impact on people," Parker says. "[27], After controversial comments made by Popplewell about the Hillsborough Disaster, Fletcher raised further concerns about the events following the fire saying that "I have many unanswered questions still about the fire in which four of my family died, as does my mother. "The scene became progressively horrendous, grotesque, and I was having to describe things you couldn't possibly imagine.". 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. However, as there was no real precedent, most Bradfordians accepted that the fire was a terrible piece of misfortune. On 23 February 1987, Sir Joseph Cantley found the club two thirds responsible and the county council (which by this time had been abolished) one third responsible. Valley Parade in Bradford, West Yorkshire, was built in 1886 and was initially the home ground of Manningham Rugby Football Club. It is impossible so far to be accurate about the precise cause of the fire, with grossly conflicting reports from witnesses. Stories From 11 May. 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. "We couldn't help because there were so many people streaming towards us, to our side of the pitch, to get away from the heat. Samuel Firth, a founder of the supporters' club, was the oldest victim at 86; four 11-year-old boys were the youngest. But the sheer density of numbers coupled with the thick, choking smoke made people collapse. "I was in the stand opposite when the fire broke out. ', Bradford City Fire Website messages of condolence from around the world, "Chuckle Brothers' single for Bradford City fire anniversary", "Bradford City stadium fire: The untold stories of the 1985 fire", "Emotive play of Bradford City fire disaster raises cash for burns unit", "Book Review: Four Minutes to Hell: The Story of the Bradford City Fire by Paul Firth football book reviews", "Football Focus 1st May 2010 Bradford City Part 1", Bradford City A year of healing Documentary, "Bradford fire: expert demands new investigation into blaze", "Bradford City stadium fire 1985 IPCC investigation decision", "BRADFORD CITY FIRE: Accidental cause of tragedy 'not in any doubt', says detective", "Bradford City fire 'started by cigarette', "Bradford City fire: Briton attacks 'inaccurate' BBC documentary claiming his uncle started blaze", "Bradford fire: Sir Oliver Popplewell defends 1985 inquiry interview in full", Living with Jacko From Touchline to Lifeline, Fifty-Six: The Story of the Bradford Fire, The full Interim Report by Lord Popplewell into the Bradford City Fire, British Medical Journal article on the treatment of burns casualties after the Bradford City Fire, Peter Jackson's account of the Bradford City Fire, Nationally broadcast Yorkshire Television programme covering the fire, broadcast the following day, ITN bulletin covering the fire, also from the following day, ITN bulletin covering the aftermath, from three days later, Chelsea F.C. 1908 - Collinwood school fire, in Collinwood, Ohio (soon absorbed by Cleveland ), on March 4, killed 175. Football architect Archibald Leitch was commissioned to carry out the work. It was an awful thing to watch.". People had walked through turnstiles and along a wooden corridor before descending the steps into their seats. "For the first minute people were laughing and joking, it wasn't anything serious. 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. Together, flanked by undocumented supporters, they managed to clear all but one person who made it to the front of the stand. I hope you enjoy some of the fascinating stories we have here.#History #Disasters Christmas Day is supposed to be happy and pleasant, a time to gather with loved ones for a chill and relaxing celebration. It was to be our day,' he said. The disaster led to rigid new safety standards in UK stadiums, including the banning of new wooden grandstands. A few minutes later, he felt a thump on his back from his father, who told him to run. "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. 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. Tarpaulin fell on them and stuck to their clothes and then ignited. By the time the fire brigade arrived they were faced with huge flames and dense smoke. However, when Bradford City won promotion to the highest level of English football, Division One, in 1908, club officials sanctioned an upgrade programme.