The extinguishers were put there so that they would be out of the way of fans who could use them as missiles, which apparently had happened previously. We had not been told anything.". Bradford City continues to support the burns unit at the University of Bradford as its official charity. 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. [10] One eyewitness, Geoffrey Mitchell, told the BBC: "It spread like a flash. The speed at which fire engulfs the entire stand is insane. 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. Bradford City fire: Police reveal who was responsible for 1985 Valley Those are the words of David Pendleton, a survivor of the Bradford City fire disaster, which happened 30 years ago. The fire happened during a football match. 24 Bradford City A.F.C. The stadium was known for its antiquated design and facilities, which included the wooden roof of the main stand. Fifty-six people died. When the game began there was no way out for them, except by going on to the pitch. "Many people still don't want to talk about the disaster. he asks. His son Christopher normally watches from the stand but on Saturday he joined other fans elsewhere. Mr Delahunte was screaming into his microphone describing the scene until it became impossible to continue broadcasting. Those who rescued people were themselves burned in the process. The scene in there was one of silence and shock. Most recognizably, tens of thousands of Burners gather annually to build Black Rock City, a participative temporary metropolis . Previous warnings had also been given about a major build-up of litter in the cavity below the seats in the stand. 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. However, there is a lot in this book that troubles me about the science, or lack of it, used in the testing of the investigators' hypothesis as to the source of the ignition. I asked the director to get the camera to go a little closer. Bradford City stadium fire disaster: In memory of the 56 victims We were sat in our football kit, we didn't know what to do. It was to be our day,' he said. "I looked up and saw the flames. Some of the dead were found at the bottom of these steps. 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. Lincoln City suffered two successive relegations, first to the Fourth Division in 1986, and again in 1987, becoming the first team to be automatically relegated from the Football League itself. "Until I arrived home my mum and my brother had no idea whether I was alive or dead. Soon they were all running for their lives. "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. I had no idea. There is no evidence in the book, he is just pointing out there are some coincidences. The fire started five minutes before half-time during the match on 11 May between Bradford and Lincoln City. 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. I'd seen the film on the Saturday but the bleakness of the stadium burnt out, and the gloom that afflicted everybody, was dreadful. BBC ON THIS DAY | 11 | 1985: Fans killed in Bradford stadium fire The local council was deemed to be one third responsible. Bradford fire 11.5.1985.mpg - video Dailymotion It was sort of the good thing to come out of the nightmare," says Simon Parker, a football reporter for the Telegraph and Argus. Parents and children were laughing and joking with the police as the preliminaries to the game began. An inquiry launched in the aftermath of the disaster led to legislation to improve safety at football grounds. Hundreds more telephoned the police to try to trace relatives. Bradford council introduced its emergency plans procedure yesterday to give aid to many families affected by the disaster. "[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. 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. ", ITV football commentator John Helm, who provided live commentary of the unfolding disaster across the nation: "We wouldn't normally have covered that game - no question about it. When cross examined by QC Robert Smith, then Chairman Stafford Heginbotham said he knew about the fire risk at the ground. "That's when I thought 'this is time to get out of here'. He asks the reader to make their mind up about whether these fires were a coincidence or not.". Bradford City fire was started by a tourist who dropped a cigarette According to ABC News, though, several hundred people in the Chinese city of Luoyang decided to cut loose on Christmas night 2000 by heading to a nightclub housed on the fourth floor of a multi-use industrial building.A fire broke out in the basement of the structure . Thirty years on, the majority of survivors still find it too difficult to talk about what happened at the Valley Parade on 11 May 1985. [22], Immediately after the fire, Sharpe planned and treated the injuries of over 200 individuals, with many experimental treatments being used. The 4-alarm fire started in a one-story lumber storage building and spread to an adjacent building . "[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'. Sign up and stay up to date with our daily newsletter. Some days I had two operations in a day. I rolled over on my head, jumped up and ran off.". The club's success had swollen the crowd to 10,000 and arguments will rage about fire precautions at the ground. [53], In 1986, a year after the disaster, Yorkshire Television aired a documentary presented by John Helm entitled Bradford City A Year of Healing. The smoke was choking. Lincoln City chairman Bob Dorrian, centre, is joined by Former Imps Players Association chairman Trevor Swinburne, left, and chairman of the Red Imps. Helm: "There was a throw-in in front of the stand where the fire started - something caught my eye. A few minutes later, he felt a thump on his back from his father, who told him to run. 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. 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. It's a nice little business and it's something positive that came out of a tragedy. Wealso use analytics cookies that don't track usersto help us improve it. "I was dragged on to the pitch and into a line of people, who couldn't do much for themselves and were lying there. ", Hendrie: "We stayed in the pub for hours. 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 1985 Bradford City Stadium fire remembered - IFSEC Global Once we went out it was mayhem, manic, chaotic. All existing grandstands deemed fire risks were faced with immediate closure. People were arriving in a daze outside Bradford police headquarters on Saturday evening and early yesterday. [10][11], Bradford's Telegraph & Argus newspaper published a souvenir issue for 11 May, entitled, "Spit and Polish for the Parade Ground". I don't know where Falconer is getting this cock-and-bull story from the inaccuracies in this report [documentary] are dumbfounding. Treatment of casualties and Burns Research Unit, Dramatisations, documentaries and published works, West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council, Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of accidents and disasters by death toll, List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll, "Hideous images linger after carnage of 'celebration' day", "Caught in Time: Bradford City win the Third Division, 1985", "EXCLUSIVE: Bradford's Valley Parade fire must be remembered like Hillsborough", "History of The Bradford Sling The Bradford Sling", "Bradford City football stadium blaze surgeon honoured", "Research centre to be living memorial to Bradford City FC fire disaster", "The Papers of the Popplewell Inquiry into Crowd Safety at Sports Grounds", "Popplewell Inquiry Bradford City Fire", "Bradford remembered: The unheeded warnings that led to tragedy", Joseph Canley summing up statement from test case court transcripts, Newspaper report from Sport and the Law April 21st 1989, "The Glasgow Herald Google News Archive Search", Los Angeles Times report on Bradford City test case findings, Court transcript from the test case brought by Susan Fletcher and Others against Bradford City and Others, "Bradford fire survivor attacks judge over Hillsborough comments", "The Story of the Bradford Fire: 'could any man really be as unlucky as Stafford Heginbotham? 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. At Valley Parade there are now two memorials. We went there to win the last game in front of a home crowd. By the time they got back, the whole thing had taken off. People pushed him to the ground and tried to smother the flames. [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. 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. Today, locals continue to raise money for the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit in memory of the victims of the fire. Steel was to be installed in the roof,[8] and the wooden terracing was to be replaced with concrete. That's when everybody else had the same thought. The main stand at Valley Parade burned down after what was thought to be a dropped cigarette led to flames which engulfed the entire wooden structure. Supporters either ran upwards to the back of the stand or downwards to the pitch to escape. 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.
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