he asks. [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. The heat inside the stand literally ignited people where they stood. Speculation an Australian man started the Bradford City stadium fire in 1985 IT killed 56 people and destroyed an entire stadium. [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 do not include the people currently running the club, who have always displayed a great, sensitive duty to the memory of those who died. All that was left of the main stand were rows of bare steel and stone, with blackened timbers hanging from the few remaining roof supports. [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. 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. He appealed to people to be patient while forensic experts identified bodies. "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. 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. Part of the Appeal funds were raised by a recording of "You'll Never Walk Alone"[42] from Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical Carousel by The Crowd (including Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers, who had recorded the 1963 version that led to Liverpool adopting it as their motto and team song), which reached number one in the UK Singles chart. Valley Parade re-opened on 14 December 1986, when Bradford City beat an England XI 21 in a friendly. However as the game against Lincoln progressed, a fire began just before half-time in the stand that ran alongside the pitch. Spread by the wind, the wooden roof, which was covered with tarpaulin and sealed with asphalt and bitumen, caught fire. Police worked until 4am the next morning, under lighting, to remove all the bodies. 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. The other, situated by the main entrance, was donated by the club after its 7.5million (13million today) rebuilding of the original main stand in 2002. The mood before the match on the 11 May 1985 against Lincoln City was one of jubilation. "[55], Adams also went on to state that "I have read in some newspapers that he is being berated for his campaign to have a new inquiry. Some repair work was carried out, but in July 1984 the club was warned again, this time by a county council engineer, because of the club's plans to claim for ground improvements from the Football Trust. We had to run up the stairs, through the office doors and out on to the street. [] I still have terrible memories of the day, but it is the humanity of those that helped us that I reflect on."[41]. One elderly man started to walk across the pitch with his clothes and face ablaze. "I walked past a public telephone outside the ground and there were queues of people waiting to ring home to say: 'I'm OK'. The fire destroyed the main stand completely and left only burned seats, lamps and metal fences remaining. 1909 - Flores Theater fire, Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico, on February 15, killed 250. On the recording are Dene Michael (Black Lace), The Chuckle Brothers, Clive Jackson of Dr & The Medics, Owen Paul, Billy Pearce, Billy Shears, Flint Bedrock, Danny Tetley and Rick Wild of The Overlanders. Sir Oliver Popplewell, the High Court judge who led the Valley Parade inquiry in 1985: "The scene when I arrived was horrendous. Some of the dead were found at the bottom of these steps. The fire at a Brooklyn lumber storage building sent plumes of smoke over Williamsburg on Tuesday. ", Popplewell: "I'm sorry to spoil what is obviously a very good story, but I'm afraid it is nonsense for many reasons.". Only one person had been positively identified by police by early last night. The whole fire seemed to erupt in seconds,' he said. By the time the fire brigade arrived they were faced with huge flames and dense smoke. Burning Man is an event focused on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance held annually in the western United States. [48] Profits from the play's run at The Edinburgh Fringe were donated to the Bradford Burns Unit. "That was the moment that I realised not everybody was going to get out. [10] Bradford City's coach Terry Yorath, whose family was in the stand,[19] ran onto the pitch to help evacuate people. "[28], West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council was found to have failed in its duty under the Fire Precautions Act 1971. He agreed that the inquiry into Bradford, led by the judge Oliver Popplewell, was inadequate and that there are many unanswered questions. The government inquiry into the disaster concluded the fire spread "faster than a man could run". 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. His most recent painting is a powerful image; two fans in Bradford and Lincoln City kits, surrounded by 54 other figures. "We had already won the league, all the hard work had been done. Another player went into the office space to ensure there was nobody there. It is repeated across the country on BBC Two at 23:20 BST on Wednesday, 13 May. "The scene became progressively horrendous, grotesque, and I was having to describe things you couldn't possibly imagine.". You could hardly breathe. We wanted to record the trophy presentation. [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. "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. 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. We wanted to record the trophy presentation. 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]. Most of the fans who took this escape route were killed or seriously injured. I've never seen anything like it. I asked the director to get the camera to go a little closer. 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. I ran to the stand and tried to help people escape. The Documentary highlighted the 'poison pen letters' and graffiti targeted at the then club chairman Stafford Heginbotham over accusations that he was in some way personally responsible for the deaths of the 56 people who died at the fire.[54]. [16] Messages of condolence were also received from Helmut Kohl, Chedli Klibi and Felipe Gonzlez. Helm: "The scene became progressively horrendous, grotesque, and I was having to describe things you couldn't possibly imagine.". Radiated heat from the burning roof of the stand set fire to the clothing of fans trapped underneath. A fire at a third division match between Bradford City and Lincoln City killed 56, including 11 children, and injured hundreds more. Pendleton: "One of my most haunting images was being on the bus home after dark and going past Valley Parade. ', 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. The smoke was choking. 24 Bradford City A.F.C. Interviews conducted by BBC Radio Leeds' Tim Daley. "I was dragged on to the pitch and into a line of people, who couldn't do much for themselves and were lying there. They wouldn't let us because then people would get in the way of fire engines, ambulances and police trying to get in. 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. When cross examined by QC Robert Smith, then Chairman Stafford Heginbotham said he knew about the fire risk at the ground. Bradford City were supposed to be celebrating on 11 May 1985. The 51 other bodies of children, women and men were so badly burned that identification will take many days. 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 . Soon they were all running for their lives. The Bradford City stadium fire was the worst fire disaster in the history of football.. Heginbotham died in 1995, aged 61, and was never prosecuted for the stadium fire, despite the coroner later saying he had given serious consideration to bringing a charge of manslaughter as the club had failed to act on three separate warnings about a potential fire risk. "I saw people die in the stand - but it was only until then that I realised the scale of it.". Today marks the 35th anniversary of one of the worst disasters in the history of British football. One man in tears said: 'He looked as if he was just going for a stroll. [57] Following the 30th anniversary of the fire, a number of news organisations named this man as Eric Bennett who was visiting his nephew in Bradford from Australia and attended the game on the day. The blaze is believed to have begun when a dropped cigarette lit rubbish under the wooden seats of the wooden Main Stand at Bradford City's Valley Parade stadium "The referee blew his whistle to stop the game and told us to get back to the dressing room.". "It's therapeutic and I've met so many people through doing this." It is a simple account laid out for all to see. Copyright 2023 IBTimes UK. "The fire still has a big impact on people," Parker says. Each year Lincoln send representatives to the annual memorial service in Bradford city centre and between 2007 and 2009, were managed by Bradford's captain that day, Peter Jackson. Those are the words of David Pendleton, a survivor of the Bradford City fire disaster, which happened 30 years ago. "Us players must have been in the tunnel for seconds - and I mean seconds. [45] In total, 28 police officers and 22 supporters, who were publicly documented as having saved at least one life, later received police commendations or bravery awards. As he scaled the brick perimeter wall at the front, his father stayed behind to help others escape. He was asked if precautions would have been adequate had the club been in the Second Division. Watch Missed Warnings on BBC One in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire at 22:45 BST on Tuesday, 12 May. It was nearly double the season's average of 6,610 and included 3,000fans in the ground's main stand. Fifty people die in a fire in the grandstand at a soccer stadium in Bradford, England, on May 11, 1985. The team was presented with the Division Three championship trophy - their first trophy in 56 years - in front of 11,000 jubilant fans before the start of their match against Lincoln City. Although I was only 12 at the time, 11 May 1985 is a day. By this date the appeal fund set up for survivors had paid out more than 4m with further payouts expected as the effects of physical and mental injury were determined. As we move ahead on the 2030 Sustainability Roadmap, sustainability projects are taking center stage. He is quoted as saying: "I don't believe the statement of retired Detective Inspector Raymond Falconer at all. [45] PCs Peter Donald Barrett and David Charles Midgley, along with spectators Michael William Bland and Timothy Peter Leigh received the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct. "[16] At the front of the stand, men threw children over the wall to help them escape. The game was goalless after 40 minutes when play was stopped. What Is Burning Man? [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 scene when I arrived was horrendous.