"[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. It is impossible so far to be accurate about the precise cause of the fire, with grossly conflicting reports from witnesses. 'The smoke was very, very dense. The worst fire disaster in English football history played out on live television on May 11, after Valley Parade's main stand caught fire during a match between Bradford City and Lincoln City on . [10] The call was timed at 3:43pm. The 4-alarm fire started in a one-story lumber storage building and spread to an adjacent building . It wasn't until later on when assistant manager Terry Yorath came in and said: 'It's not good.'". Within five minutes the whole stand was engulfed in flames. We use necessary cookies to make our site work. He later died in hospital. People were clambering over the wall on to the ground with their clothes and hair on fire. "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. Our world has a varied history full of terrible tragedies, bizarre tales, unexplained events, and extravagant people. "How quickly the fire spread is difficult to convey to people.". We had not been told anything.". 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. "Could any man really be as unlucky as Heginbotham had been?" [6] 1908 - Parker Building, New York City, January 10. At the final home match against Barnsley at the end of April, Bradford City fans collected more than 8,000 in a bucket collection. Of the 56 people who died in the fire,[2] 54 were Bradford supporters and two supported Lincoln. The courts held the club to be two thirds responsible, finding that it gave "no or very little thought to fire precautions" despite repeated warnings. People were arriving in a daze outside Bradford police headquarters on Saturday evening and early yesterday. [40] Matthew Wildman was 17 at the time and needed crutches to walk because of rheumatoid arthritis. 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. It is not thought that there was any crowd trouble in this section but one theory the police are investigating is that a flare or smoke-bomb was thrown or was accidentally dropped. The stories of escapes are legion. 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. 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. When the game began there was no way out for them, except by going on to the pitch. The match was recorded by Yorkshire Television for their regional edition of the ITV Sunday afternoon football show The Big Match. No one gave it the attention it ought to have received.. .. The blaze quickly engulfed the stand as Bradford played Lincoln City and claimed the lives of 59 people on May 11, 1985. People were scrambling for their lives to get out, and I know having sat in that stand normally that it is difficult and there is a drop to get to the pitch level," Harrison says. [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. Copyright 2023 IBTimes UK. We accepted it was an accident, nobody wanted to blame the club because it was the club we wanted to support. 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 [17], One witness saw paper or debris on fire, about nine inches (230mm) below the floor boards. Mr Antony Burrows said: 'One man was stood near me with his hair on fire. 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. 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. Those who rescued people were themselves burned in the process. Once we went out it was mayhem, manic, chaotic. Most Bradfordians have accepted the fire was a terrible misfortune. I hope you enjoy some of the fascinating stories we have here.#History #Disasters [11], The fire escalated very rapidly, and flames became visible; police started to evacuate the stand. 24 Bradford City A.F.C. All Rights Reserved. A new book, written by Valley Parade survivor Martin Fletcher, claims then-Bradford City chairman Stafford Heginbotham had previously netted millions of pounds from insurance payouts after at least eight previous fires at businesses he was associated with. It is a simple account laid out for all to see. ", "There was a throw-in in front of the stand where the fire started - something caught my eye. Bits of my arms, bits of my legs, part of my face, part of my scalp. [3] It included a main stand which seated 5,300fans, and had room for a further 7,000 standing spectators in the paddock in front. "The referee blew his whistle to stop the game and told us to get back to the dressing room.". Disaster struck at 3.43 pm. Pendleton: "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. Other parents whose children had not arrived home on Saturday called at the police station or sat in cars outside, waiting for news. "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.". 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]. Bits of my arms, bits of my legs, part of my face, part of my scalp. The chairman of the football club, Mr Stafford Heginbotham, was near to tears as he explained what had happened. [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. As the blaze spread, the wooden stands and roofcovered with layers of highly flammable bituminous roofing feltquickly went ablaze. Police removed the last body from the ground at 4 am yesterday, working under arc lights. [10] Bradford City's coach Terry Yorath, whose family was in the stand,[19] ran onto the pitch to help evacuate people. By the time the fire brigade arrived they were faced with huge flames and dense smoke. Fifty people die in a fire in the grandstand at a soccer stadium in Bradford, England, on May 11, 1985. Television cameras spotted the outbreak of fire in Valley Parade's main stand at 15:40 BST. It was to be our day,' he said. 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. Many were burnt to death at the turnstiles gates, which had also been locked after the match had begun. Now a new film claims an Australian was responsible for the worst . "Until I arrived home my mum and my brother had no idea whether I was alive or dead. We sat in the main stand the week before, but we had decided to move on that day," he says. "If we were fed a lie about it being an accident, then we will be educated. Police worked until 4am the next morning, under lighting, to remove all the bodies. 1985 disaster in Valley Parade Stadium, Bradford, England. 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. He started to walk home, unsure of what had happened to his father. Police officers also assisted in the rescue attempts. As a result, Bradford-born captain Peter Jackson was presented with the league trophy before the final game of the season with mid-table Lincoln City at Valley Parade on 11 May 1985. The speed at which fire engulfs the entire stand is insane. 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. ", Hendrie: "We stayed in the pub for hours. 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. 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. Fans in the next stand (the "Bradford End") pulled down the fence separating them from the pitch. There is no malicious vendetta, there is no over-exaggeration, there are no trumped-up facts. I do not include the people currently running the club, who have always displayed a great, sensitive duty to the memory of those who died. They were immediately promoted back to the Football League in 1988, and survived for 23 years before being relegated again in 2011. 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." "A disaster is not black and white - it is a mass of factors.". They wouldn't let us because then people would get in the way of fire engines, ambulances and police trying to get in. Most of the fans who took this escape route were killed or seriously injured. 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. "[59], Raymond Falconer's reliability had previously been questioned by Daniel Taylor in The Guardian who stated that: "The Bradford Telegraph and Argus described him as a 'top detective'. The playing area and stands were very basic but the ground had enough room for 18,000spectators.