25 years since the Bradford fire

[sod1]

New someone who was at bradford that day,also at hillsborough what are the chances of that,strangley he was a reading fan?

the same day was Brighton v Sheff Utd , with trouble on the pitch afterwards . Very insignificant in comparison to the tragedy at Bradford .Seem to remember the Argus made more of the trouble at the Albion than the disaster at Bradford , with it making the front page i recall

 

[jamie1972]

I'm stunned by the number of posters that had no idea about this. Made me realise how little coverage it gets.

It was my 13th birthday. I remember Dickie Davies on World of Sport, then it cutting to some poor sod literally with hair/clothes on fire and back to Dickie Davies looking totally sick. I remember the cameras kept rolling and footage being shown live.

Watching Grandstand on Saturday and seeing how many kids died really got to me, especially as I have kids of my own now.

Bloody awful.

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

RIP all.

 

[portlock seagull]

Yep, truely awful day which I remember well. I have several distant family in Bradford who survived this; and several who sadly didn't. I talked to one about it last year, his hands and face skin still heavily scarred. It was quite moving listening to his account, including the months spent in hospital afterwards recovering.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

I had absolutely no idea about the fire at Bradford until I (along with some friends) was shown a video of it as part of a training session to work at Wembley for some Uni beer tokens.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

For those that haven't seen it...

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RIP

Bradford City stadium fire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Remember it happening, its a shame that lessons about stadium and fan safety had to be learnt in such a tragic way as so many of the deaths were preventable. - RIP

We were shown the video with the match commentry during a fire training course a couple of years ago and its frightening just how quickly it spread through the whole stand and also the way people reacted to the fire.

A colleague from work was at the ground a couple of weeks before the fire happened and they have said they were shocked by the amount of rubbish, etc, underneath the stands and also just how big the gaps in the floor of the stands were allowing all sorts of rubbish to fall through, they were surprised there hadn't been a fire before.

 

[KneeOn]

That video. Was the first thing i'd seen of the Fire, i knew about it, but never seen footage. And i wondered how, when it looks like a small block is on fire at one point and thats it. And then it hits. I think this gets to me more than Hillsboroguh because i've a fear of being burnt... RIP the 56.

 

[northstandnorth]

A colleague from work was at the ground a couple of weeks before the fire happened and they have said they were shocked by the amount of rubbish, etc, underneath the stands and also just how big the gaps in the floor of the stands were allowing all sorts of rubbish to fall through, they were surprised there hadn't been a fire before.

I have a book,published circa1978, by Simon Ingliss called The Football Grounds Of England And Wales that describes flaps in the stand that could be lifted showing accumulated rubbish.He mentions Mars Bars wrappers priced at 3 old pence meaning late 50'searly 60's pricing so the warning was there.
As for the old Goldstone south stand mentioned by others-we got lucky,our stand went up overnight but unlike Valley Parade at least the rear exits lead to a walkway not padlocked gates.
BUT I vividly remember being inside the long stand at White Hart Lane(the one with part seats part standing,called the Shelf (at that time the Spurts End).and thinking it was a death trap. Resembling the inside of a giant wooden Helter Skelter. given a decent firework the whole thing would have gone up with no problem.

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

I have a book,published circa1978, by Simon Ingliss called The Football Grounds Of England And Wales that describes flaps in the stand that could be lifted showing accumulated rubbish.He mentions Mars Bars wrappers priced at 3 old pence meaning late 50'searly 60's pricing so the warning was there.

Ghastly, ghastly day. I still remember it like it happened yesterday. I remember coming home from Ardingly (we played Saturday games, which were compulsory), and, as was my habit, putting on the TV to look for the scores and seeing this). Peter Jones had said something about there being rumours of a fire on the radio and I didn't think much of it, but then the full horror unfolded. As for the fence issue, I have the 1985 issue of Simon Inglis's book, in which he gives extensive coverage to a disaster at Bolton in 1940 something, when a load of people died in a crush on the old away end there (the one that was split in half by that supermarket). You would have thought the authorities would have learnt their lesson, but no. Football fans continued to be treated like caged animals until Hillsborough.

 

[Andrew]

Bradford Fire 1985

The 25th anniversary is next week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIxN3ypB3rw

Here is a video. At some points the video may be a bit disturbing...

Horrid scenes, hate those fans who start singing and celebrating whilst others are burning alive...

 

[Gully]

The best use, if that is the right description, of that video I have seen was as part of a fire prevention lecture. The firefighter put it on in the background as he did his introductions, then at the end told us that in those five minutes or so dozens of people had lost their lives...he certainly knew how to get our attention and make sure that we took everything he taught us seriously.

 

[BRIGHT ON Q]

Cant believe how quick that spread.Never seen that video before.

 

[Bry Nylon]

Cant believe how quick that spread.Never seen that video before.

Yes, a graphic illustration of just how quickly a small fire can develop when the perfect conditions are in place.


The first sign something is wrong is on 44:13/15 when the ball is near the far touchline and people are starting to climb onto the running track.

On 44:31/08 the commentaor mentions a fire for the first time, and a small fire can be seen in the stand.

By 45:55/19 you can tell a catastrophic flashover is imminent, by the sheer speed with which the smoke is accelerating away from the flames and up through the roof. At this point oxygen is being sucked in by the flames, accelerating the fire and the whole structure is seconds away from combusting through the effect of radiated heat.

46:14/14 The heat is so intense that items not directly involved in the fire start to combust due to the intensity of the radiated heat. ie the jacket worn by the person clambering out of the stand.

46:22/10 Flashover has occured and the whole building is involved in fire, just 2 minutes after the commentator first noticed it.



Shutting internal doors when you go to bed at night means that in the unlikely event of a fire

(i) smoke cannot travel through the house so readily.
(ii) the fire is far more likely to be contained to one room and can be stopped more easily.

 

[Bry Nylon]

What is so sad is seeing the number of families that didn't just lose one loved one that day, but two or even three.

 

[wodge]

What is so sad is seeing the number of families that didn't just lose one loved one that day, but two or even three.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2005/may/11/bradford

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2005/may/11/bradford

That makes for terrifying reading. Can't imagine how horrific that must have been for him.

I watched the video when I was at secondary school, it made me scared to go in a football ground for years after. Whenever I go now, I always see where the nearest exits are.

What was that ground at the end of one season (think it was one of the promotion seasons) where there was a metal fence at the front of the stands? Never felt safe!

 

[Fungus]

What was that ground at the end of one season (think it was one of the promotion seasons) where there was a metal fence at the front of the stands?

Most grounds were like that for quite a while.

 

[Johnny Fever]

There was a very moving programme on radio 4 this afternoon, presented by Gabby Logan (nee Yorath of course). She was at the game, as a child, because her father, Terry Yorath, was assistant manager of Bradford.
This is certainly worth a listen on BBC i-player.

 

[surrey jim]

Its the anniversary today, RIP the deceased.

 

[KneeOn]

RIP.