Bradford City fire

[Sarnia Cherie]

Unforgotten. The Bradford City Fire on BBC2 is a sobering reminder of that awful day. The club had been through some awful times with very real concerns that they would not survive. In 1985 they gained promotion to Division 2 and paraded the trophy around the ground before kicking off their final game of the season. What should have been a wonderful day to celebrate became one to remember for all the wrong reasons. 

40 years on and the scenes of how the fire took hold that day still have the power to shock. The sheer speed from a few wisps of smoke to a blazing inferno engulfing the entire stand took just 5 minutes. The blaze had started from a discarded cigarette end falling through the gaps in the floorboards to ignite rubbish underneath the seats. The wooden stand stood no chance. Doors were locked to stop people getting in for free and it was here that the majority of the bodies were found. 56 people died that day with hundreds more injured, some severely. 

This tragedy brought about huge changes to sports stadiums. Concrete replaced wood and doors had to be either manned or able to be opened from the inside. The treatment of burns learned new skills from this disaster too.

The people of Bradford feel that day has been forgotten. It is the Hillsborough's we remember. Worth a watch if you haven't seen it. 

[Turkish]

Weirdly although i was only 8 at the time i remember this clearly and came at a very bleak month for English football. Seeing it on the TV with the fire and remember them interviewing a man on TV with him Saying "this was meant to be a day of celebration". I now live fairly close to Bradford and have friends who are Bradford fans plus my friends son was a player at Bradford until fairly recently. You can see from the footage now that most of the people in the stand appear to have escaped onto the pitch it was those that were trapped underneath that died. Truly tragic event, the same day Leeds and Birmingham fans rioted at St Andrews and a 14 year old Leeds fan was killed under a collapsing wall. Then a few weeks later came Hysel, again the images of fans running riot is something i vividly remember. Over 100 football related deaths inside stadiums in the space of a month. 

I know quite a lot of people look back on those times with rose tinted glasses the sheer amount of deaths and injuries in that period not just to the fans behaviour but safety standards and policing meant things had to change. It's just incredible it took Hillsborough to make it happen

Edited May 14 by Turkish

[Farmer Saint]

My Uncle and cousins were in that fire. They escaped through a toilet window eventually, and they lost my eldest cousin (aged 10 at the time) on the escape. Luckily, he was found safe afterwards. My uncle picked up some awful burns and scars, including on his head when molten tar fell on him during the escape. Luckily they all got out safely.

My uncle rarely talks about it - I think those involved were deeply scarred by the event.

[Sarnia Cherie]

30 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

My Uncle and cousins were in that fire. They escaped through a toilet window eventually, and they lost my eldest cousin (aged 10 at the time) on the escape. Luckily, he was found safe afterwards. My uncle picked up some awful burns and scars, including on his head when molten tar fell on him during the escape. Luckily they all got out safely.

My uncle rarely talks about it - I think those involved were deeply scarred by the event.

That came across very clearly in the programme. Grown men in tears recalling that day. I was especially moved by the lady who waved her husband and 2 sons off to watch the match and never saw them again. I don't know how you come back from that and I hope I never have to find out. 

[Gloucester Saint]

2 hours ago, Sarnia Cherie said:

That came across very clearly in the programme. Grown men in tears recalling that day. I was especially moved by the lady who waved her husband and 2 sons off to watch the match and never saw them again. I don't know how you come back from that and I hope I never have to find out. 

Still some controversy about the ignition. The cause was the rubbish piled up underneath the stand and an asphalt roof from 1910 acting as a funnel. A visiting fan living from Australia was cited by police recently as having dropped a cigarette end which he thought he’d extinguished but his family strongly deny he’d said that.

Horrific and thoughts with all concerned. Glad they got promotion this year.

The 4 minute video is still used a lot in occupational fire safety training on how to evacuate along with the Manchester Airport disaster that same summer, even though Yorkshire TV were criticised for filming at the time.

Edited May 14 by Gloucester Saint

[spyinthesky]

I watched the programme and it was so sad for the people affected.

Brought home to me that there were 4 of us sat in that stand when we played Bradford City in the 6th Rd game in 1976.