Bradford Fire - Twenty years on

I haven't listened to something so dreadful in a long while

the weird thing about the fire was, it seemed to disappear from the cities collective consciousness quite quickly (obviosuly not amongst city fans, but i was never a city fan). the people that seem to mention it, since then, have always been outsiders, when they hear that i am from bradford

I was at Watford v Man Utd a few days later (midweek game just before the FA Cup final) and I can remember they had people going round with buckets, collecting for the Bradford families, and there was a minute's silence at the start which was eerily quiet - you could hear a couple of people who were outside the stadium.

Not a great day all told.

The Health and Safety Executive wrote to the club asking them to do in 1981; ignored. They wrote again in 1984 - ignored. Ironically, the stand was scheduled for demolition on the Monday following the game. Mr Justice Poppellwell's report is scathing about the Directors of the clubs who have such an appalling attitude to public safety - the Government did nothing and it took another 96 deaths 4 years later to start to change things.

Naturally, these criminally incompetent men are today lauded as visionaries for being forced by law to build architecturally moribund shedlike new stands at grounds using public money. Forgive my humour this morning. I can't help think we're at a rather crucial nexus, and half the world seems to be too focussed on misguidedly laughing at Man Utd fans to see the bigger picture which is very bleak indeed.

The irony was that the ill fated stand was due to be demolished the following day. As was noted in it's 77 year history as many as 5.6 million spectators had sat in it, many of them smokers, another 55 minutes and none of this would have happened.

... they're all working in the meeja was we speak I'm guessing... and voting New Labour

The President of the FCS during my student days was Nick Robinson, now an ITN reporter who makes a point of trying it with Labour politicians, so now you know why.

As an Everton fan I can't quite agree, but I know what you mean.

did thatsame fire training today. fucking hell.

The real tragedy about the Bradford fire is that the horrendous old wooden stand was already condemned & due to be demolished two days after that fateful Lincoln game.

Peter Jackson said when he was an apprentice at City one of his duties was cleaning the litter and they would just sweep it into the holes where it piled up below.

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

Suspicions raised again that it wasn't an accident.

The pattern began with a fire at a three-storey Bradford factory in May 1967 and continued on Good Friday 1968 with another fire at the premises of Genefoam, of which Heginbotham was the managing director. A firm Heginbotham had founded suffered a serious fire in 1970 before the Castle Mills building, owned by Heginbotham, had a fire in 1971. Further blazes followed at the Douglas Mills building, also owned by Heginbotham, in August and November 1977. In December that year there was a fire at the premises of Coronet Marketing, a subsidiary of Heginbotham’s Tebro Toys. A further fire at the Douglas Mills building occurred in June 1981.

Perplexing that this is only just coming out now if it's not been public knowledge before.

The north, where we do what we want. :-<

Astonishing.

I don't see how that has never come out before.

Wow.

I found it a strangely emotional read in a way I can't quite fathom.

Anyway, I note that the article is very careful. It highlights a series of events without making any allegations (and The Guardian has kept the comments closed).

I can remember on more than one occasion in that era that my dad was late home because he stopped to take photos of a mill fire with his new pentax, which is just anecdotal but I am 100% sure that figures from insurers & fire departments would back up that there were a shitload more fires on industrial premises back then. Particularly in multi-tenanted mills with ageing and what would now be considered criminally negligent electrical installations.

In my opinion the blame for the disaster still lies between the chairman and the fire department for just threatening not to issue a safety certificate for a litter strewn wooden stand rather than condemning it, all else is just conjecture.