Bradford City fire

On this day in 1985, 56 Bradford City fans died when a fire destroyed a stand in minutes.

Scary how quickly a fire can take hold.

*Some distressing screnes in video for anyone that hasn't seen it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXRp3qzEPiI

Augmerson

Footage is crazy.

mike65

Hard to overstate how dreadful that was and sadly like so many mulitple death events how it was so avoidable. The only "good" news that day was that the stand did not feature high fencing or cages. One dreads to think of the death toll had there been.

Alias G

mike65 wrote: »

Hard to overstate how dreadful that was and sadly like so many mulitple death events how it was so avoidable. The only "good" news that day was that the stand did not feature high fencing or cages. One dreads to think of the death toll had there been.

I suppose the fact that it had a big impact on health and safety issues in stadium design could also be described as "good" news to come from it. I won't click on the vid as I have seen it before but the image of the guy walking around seemingly non plussed whilst engulfed in flames is still vivid in my mind and will never leave. Apparently all of his nerve endings had already been burnt away by that stage which is why he wasn't reacting in a more energetic way.

mike65

Alias G wrote: »

I suppose the fact that it had a big impact on health and safety issues in stadium design could also be described as "good" news to come from it. I won't click on the vid as I have seen it before but the image of the guy walking around seemingly non plussed whilst engulfed in flames is still vivid in my mind and will never leave. Apparently all of his nerve endings had already been burnt away by that stage which is why he wasn't reacting in a more energetic way.

Thing is it didn't make any real difference at the time, it took the Taylor Report after Hillborough nearly five years later before change started to happen . Unfortunately football supporters lives were considered fairly cheap currency back then.

kev1.3s

I'll never forget the footage of the guy walking out on fire. RIP.

SEPT 23 1989

I know we all give out about the Health & Safety overkill that we have today but the 80's were a disaster zone for public safety

RIP to all the fans who died that day

Benimar

I feel bad posting this given the sentiment of the thread, but today isn't the Anniversary. It happened on May 11th 1985. I was at a Liverpool game that day and the first we knew about it was seeing it on the news on the boat home. Never seen a place go so quiet so quick. The images were horrifying.

It was a terrible disaster and so many people had no chance given how quick the stand went up.

RIP.

shamrock55

Tragic and very sad, rip to all those lost

dfx-

mike65 wrote: »

Hard to overstate how dreadful that was and sadly like so many mulitple death events how it was so avoidable. The only "good" news that day was that the stand did not feature high fencing or cages. One dreads to think of the death toll had there been.

Though a lot who died did so by naturally heading back out the way they came in - under the stand towards the turnstiles. Which were locked to stop anyone getting in.

With the speed of the fire, they had no time to turn back after that decision.

Broxi_Bear_Eire

My heart goes out to all who died that day and the family's they left behind. I was at Ibrox in 1972 when 66 folk died in the disaster there.

Alias G

mike65 wrote: »

Thing is it didn't make any real difference at the time, it took the Taylor Report after Hillborough nearly five years later before change started to happen . Unfortunately football supporters lives were considered fairly cheap currency back then.

We looked at the incident as part of a health and safety briefing at work and there were significant legislative measures brought in as a direct result of the Bradford City fire. Most notably with regard to wooden stands which were still widespread at the time. The Taylor Report lead to more sweeping modernisation of football grounds unquestionably, but not always to the benefit of the game in my view. Particularly with regard to standing terraces.

rarnes1

rarnes1 wrote: »

On this day in 1985, 56 Bradford City fans died when a fire destroyed a stand in minutes.

Scary how quickly a fire can take hold.

*Some distressing screnes in video for anyone that hasn't seen it

Actually the 29th anniversary is on the 11th May. Happened on 11/5/1985.

2 weeks and 4 days later, Heysel happened (29/5/85)

Lapin

I remember that night well. Hard to believe it was 29 years ago.

Many of the poor supporters who ran to the fire exits at the back of the stand lost their lives because they were locked.

I will never accept the logic behind the reasons for this.

R.I.P.

Lapin

Lapin wrote: »

I remember that night well. Hard to believe it was 29 years ago.

Many of the poor supporters who ran to the fire exits at the back of the stand lost their lives because they were locked.

I will never accept the logic behind the reasons for this.

R.I.P.

Defies belief really. Bradford City FC should have been hammered for that fact alone. That said the fire was incredibly rapid so there is no guarantee of survival even if the crowd got to the exits. Smoke was unreal.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Actually the 29th anniversary is on the 11th May. Happened on 11/5/1985.

2 weeks and 4 days later, Heysel happened (29/5/85)

You're indeed right.

Got my dates wrong.

rarnes1

rarnes1 wrote: »

You're indeed right.

Got my dates wrong.

Close enough to the anniversary to be fair. Normally people talk about the anniversary beforehand.

RayCon

As part of Fire Warden refresher training every year in work, we've to watch the video of the Bradford City Fire ... regardless of how many times Ive seen it (over 15 at this stage), it's just something you never get desensitized to ... horrible , horrible tragedy.

Al Capwned

The sheer speed of how it spread is chilling. I've seen that video a few times at this stage, and it always has an effect on me...

Agueroooo

That elderly man walking from the flames on fire will always be etched in my brain

darced

This post has been deleted.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

Any chance of a link to that article? It sounds interesting.

darced

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Paul Tergat

Sad day for my hometown

I wasnt born then but I know plenty of people who tell stories of how horrific it was.

Zebra3

The stand being made out of wood with, if my memory serves me correctly, apparently bags of rubbish being stored underneath it was a disaster waiting to happen. :mad:

darced

darced wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

The framing done by the author throughout that is pretty incredible tbh.



The coincidences around the Bradford fire are terrible. The stand due for demolition, higher attendance because of promotion. Everything really just went wrong that day.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

I want to read more about the aftermath of the 1984 European Cup final. Anybody have any links?

jmayo

Zebra3 wrote: »

The stand being made out of wood with, if my memory serves me correctly, apparently bags of rubbish being stored underneath it was a disaster waiting to happen. :mad:

That was one of the big issues alright.
I think they just swept the rubbish down under the stand.

Also the exits were inadequate and AFAIK there were little to no extinguishers (although they would have been useless with that fire)
The big thing of course was the speed with which it took off.
Watching it in real time is very scary.

When you look back at the history it is crazy to think how bad safety was and it wasn't just in soccer, but in lots of sports.
Sadly it took disasters like these to make state authorities, sports organisations and teams/clubs to take safety seriously.

I remember hearing one journalist interviewed who was there that day only a few months later to be on the British Airtours 737 Flight to Corfu that burst into flames at Manchester Airport that ended up claiming 54 lives.
He half heartedly joked that his colleagues were refusing to go anywhere with him after that.
One could say he was either very lucky or very unlucky.
Such are the vagaries of life.

Dozen Wicked Words

On this day.

RIP

I hope the Premier League do the right thing and have a minutes silence for it.

grenache

No minute's silence. No 56 empty seats with scarves. No black armbands. Bradford City aren't sexy enough for the PL authorities.

Nerdlingr

No need for one upmanship grenache. There's a time and a place for everything.

Its a shocking piece of footage. I've watched it a few times over the years and the sight of the man at 5:20 walking out on fire is truly horrifying. Gets me every time. RIP to all who lost their lives that day. It really is an awful bit of footage.

The derby and brighton fans started clapping today half-way through their game in memory of those who died. A small reminder, but it should have been remembered in some way by the PL today.

Zebra3

Nerdlingr wrote: »

No need for one upmanship grenache. There's a time and a place for everything.

How is it oneupmanship?

There simply seems to be a hierarchy of the dead in English football.

A horrendous thing to have to say, but true.

KH25

Shocked that the PL didn't commemorate this at the weekend.

upstairs for coffee

KH25 wrote: »

Shocked that the PL didn't commemorate this at the weekend.

Why would they? It's only Bradford City. You can't have some now irrelevant Yorkshire club spoiling a potential "blockbuster" "super sunday" where the title can be won and lost. W*****s.


Rip to all those who lost their lives.

KH25

upstairs for coffee wrote: »

Why would they? It's only Bradford City. You can't have some now irrelevant Yorkshire club spoiling a potential "blockbuster" "super sunday" where the title can be won and lost. W*****s.


Rip to all those who lost their lives.

The fire was as tragic and pointless a loss of life as Hillsbrough. After the commemorations for that, I would have expectexd the PL to commemorate the fire. It speaks volumes that Bradford City were ignored like this.

That_Guy

If it wasn't for this thread and a couple of posts on Twitter yesterday afternoon I would never have known the anniversary of the Bradford fire was yesterday.

Some of the most terrifying footage I've ever seen.

I know Hillsborough gets a lot of attention but should one tragedy outweigh another? Absolutely not. It's pretty shameful that the FA couldn't organise anything before the games yesterday.

padd b1975

grenache wrote: »

No minute's silence. No 56 empty seats with scarves. No black armbands. Bradford City aren't sexy enough for the PL authorities.

No tacky 'likes' whoring memes on Facebook either.

The year on year cranking up of schmaltzy memorials by certain clubs and their supporters of other tragedies is bordering on nauseating at this stage in my opinion.


At least the Bradford City families still have their dignity.

Nerdlingr

Zebra3 wrote: »

How is it oneupmanship?

There simply seems to be a hierarchy of the dead in English football.

A horrendous thing to have to say, but true.

You're right. Tragedies shouldnt be tiered based on what club it happnened to.
But also clubs shouldnt be knocked for commerating their dead.
As I suspected, people are using your post now as another vehicle for oneupmanship.
What is it with the modern day fan that many cant offer condolences without having a pop at other clubs?

iDave

Shame so many had to die in Ibrox, Heysel, Bradford and Hillsborough until stadium design was taken more seriously.

Zebra3

iDave wrote: »

Shame so many had to die in Ibrox, Heysel, Bradford and Hillsborough until stadium design was taken more seriously.

Bad policing (Hillsborough) and poor venue choice (Heysel) also played a part.

K-9

padd b1975 wrote: »

No tacky 'likes' whoring memes on Facebook either.

The year on year cranking up of schmaltzy memorials by certain clubs and their supporters of other tragedies is bordering on nauseating at this stage in my opinion.


At least the Bradford City families still have their dignity.

The attention seeking "controversial" posts are actually nauseating tbh.

I can remember watching the news with my Dad that evening, one of those things that always sticks with me. I can just about remember us all driving my Dad to work at the scene of the Central Hotel fire in Bundoran, 10 died in that, terrible way to die.

upstairs for coffee

Quite how people use the Bradford tragedy as leverage to aim derogatory comments toward Liverpool is somewhat disconcerting.

The only thing that correlates the two is the loss of human life - and for that reason people should have the utmost respect toward each club regarding their losses.

jaykay74

How unlucky or "unlucky" can someone be if what the book reveals is true ?

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/apr/15/bradford-fire-stafford-heginbotham-martin-fletcher

The blaze that killed 56 football fans at Bradford City’s Valley Parade ground in 1985 was just one of at least nine fires at businesses owned by or associated with the club’s then chairman, according to extraordinary evidence published for the first time.

The book, serialised by the Guardian today and tomorrow, reveals there had been at least eight other fires at business premises either owned by, or connected to, Stafford Heginbotham, Bradford’s then-chairman, in the previous 18 years, resulting in huge insurance claims. Fletcher 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, warranted further investigation. “Could any man really be as unlucky as Heginbotham had been?” he asks.

5starpool

That's quite the serious allegation, or hint of allegation should I say.

Lovely Bloke

5starpool wrote: »

That's quite the serious allegation, or hint of allegation should I say.

well yeah, if the guy was alive

Utopia Parkway

padd b1975 wrote: »

No tacky 'likes' whoring memes on Facebook either.

The year on year cranking up of schmaltzy memorials by certain clubs and their supporters of other tragedies is bordering on nauseating at this stage in my opinion.


At least the Bradford City families still have their dignity.

And the insinuation there is?

Harry Palmr

Hmm that's a bit of a "flyer".

Fires happen - they have on ferries, on oil rigs, on the underground and at sports grounds. Attempting to link one fire with others because of a common factor smacks of the worst sort of tv whodunit.

Its well known that Valley Parade was a crumbling sh'it hole but so were most grounds by the mid 80s.

SantryRed

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Hmm that's a bit of a "flyer".

Fires happen - they have on ferries, on oil rigs, on the underground and at sports grounds. Attempting to link one fire with others because of a common factor smacks of the worst sort of tv whodunit.

Its well known that Valley Parade was a crumbling sh'it hole but so were most grounds by the mid 80s.

More reason to burn it down in all fairness.

Harry Palmr

Unless someone has the smoking gun the most you could have charged Stafford Heginbotham with is contributory negligence.

RasTa

You're hardly going to set it on fire during a match

LuckyLloyd

RasTa wrote: »

You're hardly going to set it on fire during a match

You achieve your insurance claim the same way if you sabotage it when empty - unless the presence of a crowd helped to obfuscate deliberate arson.