Deadly Fire Breaks Out In Minutes in Packed Stadium | Short Documentary

On the 11 May 1985 The Bradford City Stadium Bradford, West Yorkshire caught fire during a Football League Third Division match , England, killing 56 spectators and injuring at least 265.
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Keywords: Bradford City Fire, Bradford Football, Crowd control, disaster management, Stadium Fire

[@PlainlyDifficult]

►Thanks for watching, check out me other bits! ►My new EP: madebyjohn.bandcamp.com/album/retail-simulator ►Outro Song: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJPTnn2AjdaGhsksi=2_i6bKZUj3bjixzw ►Instagram: instagram.com/plainly.john/ ►Patreon: www.patreon.com/Plainlydifficult ►Merch: plainly-difficult.creator-spring.com ►Twitter:twitter.com/Plainly_D ►Sauces Used in this video: bradfordcityfire.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/popplewell-inquiry-interim-report-bradford-city-fire.pdf hatfulofhistory.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/175864796-popplewell-final-report-1986.pdf www.bawfs.com/fire-safety-major-incident-archive/ bradfordcityfire.co.uk/2015/03/06/court-transcript-fletcher-and-others-v-bradford-city-football-club-and-others-23021987/

[@patrickglaser1560]

Leg sphere is boring anyway

[@nottsork]

they should stop paying muppets stupid amounts to kick a bladder and spend more on what people pay for , the grounds , footballers dont need 100,000 of money their brains sure as hell dont support it

[@ClimateScepticSceptic-ub2rg]

Could you do a video on the Amagasaki derailment in Osaka, Japan? It would be right up your street, and the cause was very unusual, almost incredible in fact.

[@knrdvmmlbkkn]

@@ClimateScepticSceptic-ub2rg " he Amagasaki derailment in Osaka, Japan" watch?v=vfWUgkWh784

[@Damien.D]

Imagine running from a fire, with people burning alive screaming in agony behind you, only to find a locked exit.... Fuel for nightmares.

[@rogercroft3218]

Locking exits FGS. How did anyone think that's a good idea?

[@leopold7562]

Now imagine that Bradford City were in the first or second tier already, where fences to prevent fans from getting on to the pitch were mandatory. The mere thought of that was sickening enough at the time, but watching those people at Hillsborough not long after made me think those Bradford fans were lucky that the fences hadn’t been pushed to all leagues, they’d have all died a horrific death and there would’ve been nothing they could do about it

[@FayeVert]

@rogercroft3218 "gotta keep people from sneaking in without paying"

[@th3oryO]

​@@rogercroft3218 but people might get in without paying! Think of the loss in profits. Small price to pay 🤡

[@kaoskronostyche9939]

Locked exits are surprisingly common in mass death fires. It is often the cause of high death tolls in these kind of fires.

[@Garresh1]

Your lack of interest in sports is one of the most relatable things you've said on this channel. I have a feeling a lot of your viewers are in the same boat.

[@SubPablum]

John Bonham once gave his opinion of football during a concert at Earl's Court. I think anyone else would have been lynched.

[@ourhandsaretied]

Boooo

[@oldman9642]

Sports extremely over rated

[@Twangaming]

So I’m not the only one😂

[@gforce118118]

Spectating sports are for people who have nothing else to do with their own lives.

[@richardmattocks]

My ex’s brother was in the opposite stand on the day so saw it all first hand and my ex and her mother watched the news and wondered if he was alive or dead (remember this was before mobile phones). He turned up home a few hours later, a bit singed, and covered in soot and just sat silently on the sofa for a few hours, unable to speak or communicate the experience. Truly harrowing.

[@CassassinCatto]

Wow, poor guy. Hope he's okay now

[@richardmattocks]

@@CassassinCatto yes, he’s fine now… but he’s never talked about it…. It’s just something that we all knew not to mention. The totally blank stare he came home with told everyone all they needed to know.

[@MamaMOB]

I'm glad he's okay. I wish nothing but the best for him and you going forward.

[@PMA65537]

​@@richardmattocks need a nice trip to Sea Parks

[@everythingpony]

​@@richardmattockswhat happened?

[@GoAway-vj4vj]

I love that judge for standing up for the people and holding those responsible for the disaster financially responsible for it. The victims did not get anywhere near enough to compensate them for the horrors they have undergone but at least they didn't have to go through years of litigation.

[@charlotteinnocent8752]

I mean, they locked the exits? And while refurbishment might have needed funding, they COULD have thoroughly cleaned and washed down underneath the stands. So they can't claim not to be responsible. Basically they knew and were just HOPING to get work done before someone dropped a cigarette!

[@charlotteinnocent8752]

The exits thing was mentioned about 6 mns 35

[@nlwilson4892]

@@charlotteinnocent8752 The gates were locked to stop people sneaking in without paying. That sort of overcrowding can be responsible for deaths too. In fact crowd crush has been responsible for more deaths at sports events than any other cause. There was supposed to be a steward with a key but he had decided to go on a coffee break. They couldn't clean the debris out because you couldn't get into the gap, they'd have needed to pull up all the wood. That should have been done between the seasons, but it would have been a big job.

[@charlotteinnocent8752]

@@nlwilson4892 Oh yes ever since the Knickerbocker Theater disaster that's been done, but IT ISN'T LEGAL. Which is why they need to face their guilt in what happened. As for the cleaning, it doesn't matter if it's a big job, you do what needs to be done. Yes, it should have been done before the season started. BUT IT WASN'T!

[@nlwilson4892]

@@charlotteinnocent8752 With regards to the cleaning, I was just making the point that it wasn't just a case of cleaning but dismantling the entire base of the stand.

[@raymondleggs5508]

keeping the doors locked in a place crowded with people sounds like a recipe for any disaster. Along with keeping the fire extinguishing equipment locked up

[@solid-swank]

The sad thing is that I'm not entirely sure how you could have unsecured fire extinguishers in that environment. That many drunk and rowdy people in one place would already make it difficult, but as mentioned in the video, the added layer of hooliganism culture among sports fans in the 80s would make it borderline impossible.

[@contra1124]

Fire extinguishers are deadly weapons in the wrong hands.

[@wilsjane]

@@solid-swank Theatres and cinemas in the UK are required to have one emergency exit for every 300 people. It became law in 1928 and still exists today. Opening the building with any exit locked or blocked carries a minimum £1,000 fine. A more serious or repeated transgression would result in the building owners losing their licence. In addition, furnishings are 100% natural fibre or carry a class 0 fire rating. Weekly evacuation drills and procedures are also a legal requirement. For some totally unknown reason, none of this applies to nightclubs or sports venues. However night clubs have now been brought in line with most of the theatre regulations, particularly unblocked and well signed means of escape.

[@DavePocklington]

This was due to the massive problem of fans fighting, and also people opening them to let people in for free. I attended many matches in those days. The narrator isn't joking when he said fans would use anything when fighting. One of the popular chants sung by all fans, of most teams in those days was, "your going home in a fucking ambulance". If that gives you a clue how insane those times were.

[@alisonwilson9749]

@@wilsjane I used to work in the theatre. We had a board in the office for all the chains that secured the emergency doors. Until every hook on the board had its chain on it, the audience could not be let in; this made sure every fire exit was unlocked. And the regs about what we could use in terms of materials on stage were very strict. Also, in London at least, we had to have a fireman on duty during every performance. As in, a real fireman, from the fire brigade. And the safety curtain (not a curtain at all really- it was, in effect, a massive metal door made of plates of steel which could seal off the stage from the audience, but disguised as a painted drop on the front) had to be dropped in at every performance, just to be sure it was always in working order. (most theatre fires were historically caused by lighting, usually on stage) Etc. It always bugged us that nightclubs- where smoking was allowed back then, and which were often packed with people in the dark and loose furniture that could get in the way of escape- had minimal regs. We always took the regs very seriously. And more than one nightclub burned, with loss of life. Theatres were far and away safer- I don't think a theatre fire has killed anyone for many decades.

[@be_a_bright_sparkle3687]

A day I have never forgotten. Had family there, all safe, friends there, some injured. Workmates, lost some. Friends of friends, lost some. I was working at Sainsbury’s and a man came in completely stunned and in shock(some thought drunk) I asked him if he was ok?. Quite calmly said he’d just watched Bradford City stadium burn down and people burnt to death. I had family and friends and workmates there. The rest of that day became a nightmare. People there have been changed as people forever.😢

[@j68715]

I'm sorry for your loss. It's difficult when the world moves on but your community lives a tragedy forever. Families are never the same, even generations later. But I've seen tragedy bond people in a way that hard to describe. It's like a shared trauma and grief that connects you as the only people who experienced it firsthand. I hope you were (and are) able to find some strength and understanding in one another.

[@MED31MED]

I watched the full video of the fire as part of my marshall training back in the day. The speed with which it went from a small wisp of white smoke to a raging inferno was absolutely terrifying. I remember an old man walking out of the stand in flames from head to toe. He, along with the many others never got to return home that day. Tragic.

[@TheFrogfather1]

BBC Scotland used the video for. fire training when I worked there - I suppose it was their footage, but as you say the speed of the spread was horrific.

[@miketo09]

I recall seeing that same incident back then. The man was walking casually, as if nothing was wrong, yet he was nothing but moving flame. He was just on automatic, shock probably overriding everything else in his system. An officer tackled him to the ground, presumably to extinguish what flames he could. I haven't seen that specific footage since; it's horrifying and clearly stuck with me all these years.

[@ArchTeryx00]

It almost always shocks people how fast fires can spread. The whole stands were a tinderbox ready for the smallest spark to set it ablaze. They were made of wood whose varnish had worn off long ago, with a tar-paper roof. ANY fire in those stands would not be "minor." and even the announcer upon spotting the first flames went, "And that looks very nasty indeed!" I know once there was visible fire it was only a matter of 1-2 minutes before the stands were fully involved. The ones that got the bloody hell out as fast as they could were the ones that survived. Usually police in these football disasters are more hindrance than help, but these bobbies did an absolutely heroic job, diving into the flames repeatedly to pull everyone out they could. Some of them came out on fire themselves. They saved *many* lives that day, I would argue, all they could have.

[@FayeVert]

@MED31MED oh, yeah, I don't think the "stop drop and roll" campaign had made it to the UK yet, and from my understanding it still isn't as much of a thing there as it is in the US.

[@wiewioragaming5726]

@@ArchTeryx00 you forgot to mention all the paper trash below the wood, and the good airflow. This is literally how you build campfires

[@user-ug2wk7db2g]

This fact that TV cameras were present throughout is significant. There is footage that the general public never saw because of the nature of its content. The entire footage was and I believe is still used in training personnel in fire risk assessment and management. Some scenes to this day are etched on my brain. It was the bedrock of my training in fire risk management. The only positives out of this carnage was a whole new way of assessing risk and crowd management. As ever, thank you for your accurate concise piece.

[@LucySims1968]

And the connentator at the game that day was John Helm, he is a Bradford fan. The disaster hurt him deeply. RIP the 56 xx never forgotten.

[@stevencooke6451]

The broadcast is utterly harrowing capturing a view of just how quickly the fire became an inferno.

[@michaelhart8423]

I watched the uncut TV footage during a fire-fighting course ...even though we all knew of the incident, the shocking scenes left the room totally quiet at the end. A sobering moment to think, and to reflect..

[@garytoner4563]

​@@stevencooke6451yeah the real-time commentary footage is available on KZbin. It's incredible how quickly it developed

[@bravodelta3083]

I used to play this footage if people were taking their safety training a little too lightly. Lots of suddenly very attentive people. The footage was long supressed by the production company, but it can be found online. Be warned if you look for it; it's truly harrowing.

[@Acidfunkish]

Just FYI, to the few smokers who may still exist, out there: don't ever "put out" your cigs in soil. Not in a planter, not into the ground, nothing. Soil, especially during dry periods, can keep smoldering for hours, without showing any obvious signs. If you smoke, especially on a balcony, get one of those ashtrays that fit in a cup holder; putting the lit end in the hole will suffocate it. They're generally less than $10, and very travel friendly. Get one. Get multiple, even. Bring one with you in your car, to job sites, to parks, wherever. Don't screw with fire. It screws back hard.

[@beefovbd2]

as a bradfordian ,we will never forget the 56 . RIP to them all , we have a service every year to remember them . thank you for this content

[@inappropriatejohnson]

Witnessed a "peanut shell fire" at a Giants game at Candlestick Park in San Francisco once........the wind in that place would push the shells and dropped cigarettes into the same piles, sometimes a foot deep. No real damage done except for singed concrete, but still, that fire was vigorous. Glad smoking is forbidden at their new stadium.

[@az.................]

Notably the stick was built mostly of concrete and the US never really saw much in the way in hooliganism. Even the worst Raiders fans pale in comparison to English hooliganism so there was never any reason to block egress.

[@Kremithefrog1]

They didn't bother to ban peanuts? The fuel?

[@wilsjane]

@@Kremithefrog1 Burning peanut shells and sweet wrappers on a concrete floor have never killed anyone as far as I know. LOL It was estimated that the buildup of flammable rubbish below the seating at Bradford exceeded 30 tons. Some of it had been there for more than 40 years. The diagram in the video was slightly inaccurate. The seating was raked, but the floor was level. However their were a lot of vertical supports. Clearing the area from the rear would not have been that difficult, but with the buildup it would have been very costly. Keeping the area swept out from day one would have been fairly simple.

[@az.................]

@@Kremithefrog1 AFAIK, no. The seats were mounted on a solid concrete floor. Think of a less luxurious movie theatre. There simply wasn't room for a lot of rubbish to build up nor was the structure made of combustible materials. The main flaw of the stadium was that it was subjected to severe winds which probably would've blown any remaining rubbish into the bay.

[@MicrowavedAlastair5390]

​@@Kremithefrog1 Worst thing to happen to Candlestick iirc was the Loma Prieta quake, AKA the World Series quake in 1989 in which none of the thousands of people in the stadium were killed or even seriously injured. Also, why would banning peanuts, when cigarettes (and presumably other fire-starters) are banned, be helpful? A lot of revenue generated by stadiums is from food stalls, especially with games as long as baseball, so food waste and wrappers are a fact of life, even with daily sweeping. People get cranky when they don't have access to food and snacks and aren't going to go somewhere with nothing to eat. There usually isn't a stadium without food because it's probably going to be outcompeted by stadiums elsewhere or recreational venues of other types.

[@charlotteinnocent8752]

I'm not a football person either, but I highly approve of the happiness it brings my friends and the idea that a fun day out can end like this is.... my heart breaks.

[@amykathleen2]

With all the people talking about the terrible footage of the disaster, I have to say thank you to John for not using it in this video. I can understand from reading comments why the footage could be a valuable training tool for firefighters - but for the general public, I’ve always felt that footage of real people’s gruesome deaths shouldn’t be displayed anywhere near as often as it sometimes is.

[@agrariancrafts5132]

I can relate to your interest in soccer. If I wanted to watch a guy struggle for 40 minutes to score, I’ll take my friend to the bar and encourage him to flirt with the ladies there.

[@Gaaaaaame]

That's wild

[@JoshuaTootell]

I think he, like I, find all sports to be dull. Not limited to soccer.

[@YungTigris]

Watch Fluminese in brasil, uk/french soccer blows

[@JelMain]

@@YungTigris Watch paint dry. And they're doing the same to Rugby.

[@gordonspond8223]

@@JoshuaTootell Like baseball... OMG!

[@josegers5989]

I am glad you only used still images. The video of the fire is one of the most gruesome things i've seen.

[@dazplott]

The match was recorded by Yorkshire TV and clips were rushed out for news broadcasts that afternoon. ITV still own the copyright and won’t licence it - they used to be quite aggressive about taking down unauthorised copies, but seems easier than ever to find these days. It is horrific, but does illustrate just how quickly it engulfed the stand.

[@josegers5989]

@@dazplott It is on KZbin

[@kevinbeare745]

Also on Daily Wire

[@nlwilson4892]

@@dazplott It was also shown live as it happened.

[@doingstuffandfilmingit]

Fun fact, back before my parents were married and I was born my dad used to go to every game without fail, and would have been in that very stand. Fortunately on that day my mother had dragged him to the wedding of a friend instead. Nobody knew what was happening until they all came outside after the ceremony and could see the smoke across the city, a passer-by told them what had happened. Highly likely I wouldn't be here if my dad had been at the game instead of at a wedding he didn't want to go to that day.

[@pure_wes]

my apartment burned down in a matter of minutes from an improperly disposed cigarette . fire started in an attic, no fire alarms or sprinklers, out of date extinguishers, the whole building went up in flames and fast. no one was hurt but a few people had to be saved by the firefighters. thank you texas for poor building inspections! i have been more aware of what to look for since the fire, and unfortunately i have not been able to afford a safe home, but im now aware of my danger. if you live in texas, be aware we may see a lot of these apartment fires in the future, i suspect. our government has been not to anything to protect us tenants.

[@colincampbell767]

Building inspections are a city responsibility. Or county if you live in an unincorporated area. The city I'm in is very strict. Replacing the gas valve to your dryer must be performed by a licensed plumber and must be signed off on by a city inspector. (And the city hired extra inspectors to ensure the if the inspection request occurs before noon - it will be inspected that same day.)

[@joelbusald6416]

Gregg Abbott and the Republicans believe that $$$ votes for them not people

[@Him_He_Me]

Sounds more like the landlords are not complying with safety standards.

[@joelbusald6416]

@@Him_He_Me safety standards in Texas? Everything favors the moneyed interests

[@ian3580]

@@colincampbell767 That is not the norm overall. Texas can't even keep it's purposely separate power grid in decent shape.

[@derrickdinwiddie8759]

The pictures of the fire rolling out of the stands is a chilling one...

[@supremeownage8995]

Great to see you covering this event! The video of the fire is still used to this day as an example of how quickly a fire can spread, used in numerous fire safety videos. Definitely worth a watch if you need a good dose of the fear. Fires can become insanely big extremely quickly, and the strong winds on the day blowing directly through the stands created a hell-storm of conditions. Truly, nightmare material.

[@ZKP314]

Kings Crossing 🤝 Bradford Stadium Having giant fires caused by a tossed lit cigarette

[@christianplatzbecker1784]

Yes and no! The question is: "When ONE cigarette start a Inferno, whe save are the Infrastruktur and puplik buildings?"

[@CatMom-uw9jl]

In a wooden structure with years’ worth of flammable trash underneath. I thought of the KC fire too.

[@davidcox3076]

And both fires spread very quickly from a small smoulder.

[@Flipper86]

Lots of brush, grass and forest fires are started by improperly discarded cigarettes.

[@nigel900]

Things have changed dramatically since then. Now cigarettes have been demonized and prohibited… and unfiltered marijuana joints are legalized and encouraged. 👍🏻

[@melissaharris3389]

I always find it shocking how people (still) just throw burning cigarettes on the ground or out car windows. Even more shocking that it was common practice to just toss smoldering matches away. People have known the inherent risk of open flame in structures for millennia and have done as much as they could at the time to minimize risk of a conflagration. Then smoking becomes increasingly popular, and it becomes completely socially acceptable and common to toss burning matches and cigarettes anywhere!

[@erik_dk842]

Smokers are inherently inconsiderate and negligent

[@carribob1992]

I used to go to VP for the football quite a lot when I was younger. At the last home game of every season, they always have a minutes silence in remembrance of the fire (Theres a memorial in the main stand and another one in the City Center). Theres a ribbon on the back of the Shirts that also commemerate the fire. Quite a few people I know are affected by the fire. In the aftermath of the fire, The Bradford Burns Unit was created to research ways into treating Burns Injuries. However, It wouldn't be until the aftermath of the Hillsborough Disaster that football stadium safety would really take center stage.

[@zh84]

Fire doors that don't let people in without a key but will open automatically under pressure when people want to get out certainly existed by 1985 - we had them at our primary school. Here they would have saved lives. Punters being trapped by locked doors while trying to escape a fire caused deaths at the Club Cinq-Sept fire (France, 1970) and the Cocoanut Grove fire (Boston, 1942) so it's not as if this was an unknown issue.

[@warailawildrunner5300]

The problem was, football ground gates for exiting, were huge things... they aren't simply double doors. So they likely hadn't thought much about the fire door aspect of them. The main concern in the 80s was football hooliganism and people sneaking into football grounds without tickets... fire wasn't really considered much. The only saving grace was that Bradford hadn't been higher in the league before this, as if it was - the stands of the top clubs had the same kind of fencing that Hillsborough did. If Bradford's stands had those in the way... the death toll would have been one of the worst disasters of all time.

[@nlwilson4892]

If you did that in a football stadium you'd have people opening them to let their friends in. he usual way of doing it is to have turnstiles to get in which are then locked but bigger fire gates to let people out, still locked but with a steward there with a key. Sadly steward had gone for a coffee break.

[@erik_dk842]

@@nlwilson4892 Coffee break. Probably fast asleep after 3 or 4 pints of beer

[@MrDannyDetail]

@@erik_dk842 The whole club were celebrating their promotion that day, as it was the last game of the season, and local dignitaries and celebrities had been invited along for the celebrations, so probably every staff member and adult fan in the stand were under the influence of at least a small amount of alcohol. The only ones who hadn't had at least one drink would probably have been the children, and sadly quite a few died, as their father's, grandfather's and uncles were understandably quicker in trying to evacuate with them than the general crowd were at evacuating, which meant those with children were more likely to have headed straight to the back of the stand where they had come in, and thus morely likely to have been trapped by the locked gates.

[@DarqJestor]

1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in Manhattan NY, 146 people died, mostly women immigrants because the exits were locked.

[@tedthesailor172]

There should've been criminal negligence findings. Those responsible just said ho-hum and went home. Suing the council simply meant that the taxpayer answered for the ineptitude of Bradford Council and Insurers footed the bill of Bradford City Football's greed and negligence. This is why we have disasters like this and Grenfell Tower - everyone gets off the hook, nobody faces the slam...

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

As the council was responsible for licencing the grounds, they were held to be negligent in their statutory duties.

[@garthcox4307]

Literally the last time the stand was to be used before being replaced. That was beyond unlucky, RIP.

[@basilbrush9075]

Luck or malice

[@tommy0con2]

@@basilbrush9075 sounds like a friction fire between insurance and replacement cost

[@marcusettling9016]

I'm a fire first responder in my company and this desaster was part of our firefighting course. We watched a video of the whole fire unfold in realtime. It took only a few minutes from the first signs of smoke until the whole structure was completely ablaze. Absolutely harrowing. The heat was so intense that the hair of a person standing 15 meters away instandly caught fire.

[@suzi1980]

We also watched this in warden training. I remember being told that the roof over the grandstand was part of the reason the fire spread so fast.

[@RT-qd8yl]

We watched it in fire training in Michigan in the 2000s for the same reason, evidence of how quickly a timber structure _can_ burn in the right circumstances

[@nlwilson4892]

@@suzi1980 The roof had been tarred as waterproofing. It very rapidly spread from one side of the roof to the other.

[@who9387]

@marcusettling9016 - I watched the video on a fire protection course. It was frightening how quickly it went from first signs of smoke to a blazing inferno. Many people died in their seats.

[@RCAvhstape]

I'm guessing 80s hair spray didn't help with the hair thing.

[@tonythesuperperson]

I’m similar to you - British without aaaaany interest in football. You become very aware of how much male conversation is about their teams.

[@DmT922ha]

Its fine if you casually watch some football I guess but I think extreme interest in sports in general to the point of being obsessive is the most NPC thing ever...

[@asicdathens]

Same thing in Greece. I was never into football. Prefer to talk about Tour de France or the other Grand Tours or amateur astronomy. Both topics are alien to 99% of Greek males

[@PenguinDT]

It's the same everywhere, really, just with different sports. Many small talks on my end devolve into 'just smile and nod - and take a deep sip of coffee when it looks like I'm about to be asked for a sports opinion'.

[@Emulleator]

same in Germany, people look at me like I insulted their mother if I don't know who played yesterday

[@robthemodYT]

Very easy way to deal with this. Most discussion is around the Premier League. Find whoever your nearest team is in the Championship down to League Two. Set a notification for their results on your phone and keep an eye on where they are in the table. Now whenever someone asks your opinion on Man City, Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal, etc you just say "I don't follow the Premier League". They won't know anything about your local team and they'll ask you how they're doing but because they don't know anything about your team will then change the subject.

[@ItsJustLisa]

And yet in 80s, people would bitch and complain when asked to not smoke or just chuck their butts and/matches because to them “it was their right”. Here in the States, when indoor smoking was being banned in workplaces, stores, restaurants, etc., the pushback from smokers was appalling. They’d always whine that it was “their lungs” completely ignoring that smoke was also a danger to everyone around them. And the number of fires started by smokers, whether indoors or outdoors, is and always has been preventable. But most just don’t care. It sounds like the same thing with this disaster. People knew the underbelly of the stands was full of flammable trash and threw their butts and matches down there anyway. Since the structure was wood, smoking should never have been allowed in the first place.

[@DavePocklington]

They know exactly who started it. He had come from abroad to visit relatives and watch a game. He dropped his finished cig, but before he could stamp on it to put it out, it rolled forward and fell through the cracks. He noticed the large amount of rubbish down there, and straight away became worried. He watched as it started smoldering. So he tried to put it out by pouring his drink through the gap. He began shouting and alerting others to the danger. That first photo he shows of the smoke in the stand at 5;46. Was taken within minutes of him dropping his cig.

[@JobyFluorine-ru4bd]

No interest in football, you say? My eyes started glazing over as you were saying, "Division two season". Remember that episode of The IT Crowd where Moss and Roy learned how to talk like men? ⚽ "What a ludicrous display last night!"

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I was fighting the urge to write that into the script!!

[@simonn2045]

The problem with Arsenal is, they try and walk it in

[@JobyFluorine-ru4bd]

What was Wenger thinking sending Walcott on that early? ☺️

[@susantummon3463]

The thing you have to understand, is, he's got a light touch for a big man. ;-)

[@starlequin5893]

@@JobyFluorine-ru4bd You know Arsenal. They always have to walk it in.

[@Archangelm127]

After this, I'd say the King's Cross fire should logically come next. All the horror of this terrible story, with the added nightmare of being stuck underground. 😕

[@leechowning2712]

That is back about 2 seasons ago, I wish he would number them but is on the list there I watch almost all, but yeah those are nasty

[@Archangelm127]

@@leechowning2712 Oh really? I thought I'd binged the entire catalogue, but apparently not. If you'll excuse me... ;)

[@leechowning2712]

@@Archangelm127 The thing that throws me is that I use his end of the year "all in one" podcast when I need several hours of calming voice, so I know what he has, but not always when.

[@MarkJoseph81]

I once worked at a restaurant a long time ago (in this galaxy, right here), and on break one time with one of the other cooks he picks up the sports section in that day's paper. I wasn't reading anything, and he offered me some of the sports section but I declined, saying I don't read sports. He laughed, incredulously, and asked "Well then what DO you read?!" "Books," I said.

[@twocvbloke]

Makes me all the more glad that I too am a sports-free person, and prefer to not visit places where lots of people gather, granted today things have improved safety-wise, but there's always that little voice in my head, "What if...?"......

[@Awesomekillezrs]

Thanks John for making my weekend

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!!

[@KidarWolf]

I've not watched the whole footage of this fire, and have no desire to. However, while I was friends with a firefighter from Canada, we were talking about barn fires, since I had just done my best to mitigate a muck heap fire until firefighters could arrive (I did everything right, I just needed a bigger hose, I got a pat on the back for that from the firefighters). He showed a small selection of the clips particularly to do with how fast it went from smoke to flames, and how fast the fire spread across the roof, because he felt it was relevant in discussions on what to do in the case of a barn fire, just due to the amount of flammable dust and debris typically found in a barn. Watching just those parts of it has made me much more aware of fire risk, and the importance of keeping a barn well swept, and preferably empty of bedding if the horses are out.

[@Javadamutt]

They still show this incident during training for Fire Wardens. While the cause of the fire isn't as relevant today, there are still very key learnings that makes it a perfect example. 1) The speed the fire spread and engulfed the entire stand - It was a matter of minutes 2) How the heat spread, up into the rafters were it was trapped. It then travelled down the far end 3) How people reacted, especially those at the far end furthest from the fire. Most people at the end the fire started survived while those at the opposite end were slow to react and contained a higher proportion of victims. Due to point 2, people thought they were "safe" or it wouldn't impact them. Ultimately this is why it is important to evacuate entire buildings and floors 4) On police office can be seen in the video of the disaster running away from the stand covering someone with his coat. Despite being easily a third of the way across the pitch you see the moment his hair catches fire Truly a chilling event in football history

[@karinrandall855]

Thank you for making the videos that you do. And please never drop the ending bit with you in a currently something corner of London. I always make sure to catch that bit!

[@downskated]

A cold rainy dreary day here in usa, perfect weather for a British disaster video with my morning coffee

[@johnbryar3309]

I was there. Family didn't know if we were alright until we got home. I can still feel the heat

[@StuBobsGhost]

I remember seeing a lot of the footage of this at the time. Truly horrible. Another channel has covered this and linked to it. Thanks for the great vidro as always.

[@dpfreedman]

I have something less than zero interest in sports. Great to learn John's a kindred spirit!

[@robthemodYT]

John, from an introvert who disliked football when they were younger (I have gotten more into it now) there is a very, very easy way to mostly avoid talking about football while still being seen as fitting in. The vast majority of discussions are about the Premier League, or even more specifically Man City, Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, etc. So just 'follow' a lower league team on the other side of the country from where you live (set phone notifications for results) and just make up some excuse about why you support them such as 'My ex took me to see them once when we visited their parents' Most fans of the top Premier League teams don't actually watch any lower league teams so you can make up any old crap about how 'your team' is doing and they'd be none the wiser and they'll end the conversation for you.

[@RevStickleback]

I support a club from outside the premier league, and the "top 6 chat" from the fans who only know football through a tv screen bores me to tears. They talk about football in the way that pundits do, probably because they'd gained all their wisdom from hearing pundits talk.

[@clareharrison3361]

I remember this. 😢 My husband knew a lad who was there, and all the side of his face and neck was burnt.

[@benmcreynolds8581]

Out of every sport, I just could NOT get myself to ever care about soccer.. I don't understand how so many people are so insanely passionate about it? Skateboarding was a lot more interesting to me. I especially loved street skating & seeing what creative unique locations people find to skate. Different spots push creativity into different directions. It's one of the best aspects of skateboarding

[@philbraithwaite1316]

I was watching Grandstand (Saturday afternoon sports show on the BBC) and I’m sure coverage was interrupted to live pictures.

[@joannaw5913]

It was. My brother was watching it, and called me in to watch the live footage. Horrific stuff.

[@AlanEvans789]

I was about to pass out of my RAF trade training during the following week, and spent that weekend at a friends place in Rubery. His dad was watching Grandstand and called us in when the fire came on live. Was absolutely horrific viewing. Makes me glad that I'm not really interested in football. Saying that my local non-league club has the oldest wooden sports stadium stand in England. Great Yarmouth Town FC share it with the athletics club.

[@nlwilson4892]

It was, I made a detailed comment earlier. They used to flick around the stadiums at half time, stopped on Bradford with a little bit of smoke rising and continued at least until the whole roof was alight. Not sure if they went back to another match one play resumed at other grounds.

[@christianansell3170]

Remember watching this live on tv and really hit me as a football fan that this could happen. In 90’s, I moved to Bradford and started supporting Bradford city and it was only then, 10 years after the event that I realised just how much it affected the city. Yet in 2001 I worked at the ground for a year in the match day catering, yet not once was the fire mentioned in any training nor was the training done more than the very minimum necessary which shocked me considering the disaster. Just seemed the club had forgotten the fire had ever happened.

[@christianansell3170]

Plainly difficult also says at end that Bradford city fortunes never recovered and stayed in lower leagues, yet seem to ignore the 2 years city spent in the premiership( yes the second year was dreadful and probably understating that lol.

[@WardyLion]

The video of the stand, from the first signs of fire to it being an inferno were used several years ago in my Fire Marshall training. It’s scary how fast it took hold and grew.

[@brick6347]

A bit before my time, but I went to university in Bradford and worked at Valley Parade for a while. That was when Bradford City was briefly in the premier league. They sold an awful lot of scarfs that season because they're coincidentally the same colour as Harry Potter's!

[@seanoconnor8843]

Thank you for sparing us the details. I remember day that very clearly

[@worawatli8952]

I can relate a lot with lack of interest in sport as "sport". What I preferred is more free-play of sport or lone sport, like biking alone, shooting basketball alone, shoot arrows, drive car leisurely alone, things like that. I find watching races or matches real boring.

[@B-26354]

I knew an retired policeman who was on duty that day in Bradford and managed to get some people out of the stands, you apparently can see him in some of the archived footage. He rarely spoke about that day and the commendation he received was kept in a desk drawer.

[@robin_marriott]

I watched the complete footage as part of some fire safety training I did when I was a Scout. The man on fire has stuck with me ever since. Horrible image.

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

"Football architect Archibald Leach?" *Who knew* Cary Grant was a football architect? And I am right there with you: when the conversation turns to sports, my eyes glaze over and I start thinking about all the other stuff I'd much rather be doing. It is endlessly boring.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

The homophones have got you again. The architect was Archibald Kier Leitch. He was responsible for the following English and Scottish football grounds: Anfield, Highbury, Ayresome Park, Bramall Lane, Celtic Park, Craven Cottage, Deepdale, The Old Den, Dens Park, The Dell, Ewood Park, Fratton Park, Goodison Park, Hampden Park, Home Park, Ibrox, Hillsborough Stadium, Molineux, Old Trafford, Roker Park, Saltergate, Selhurst Park, Stamford Bridge, Villa Park, West Ham Stadium and White Hart Lane. He also worked in Ireland (Lansdown Road) and Wales (Cardiff Arms Park) plus Twickenham.

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

He was also played by John Cleese in A Fish Called Wanda!

[@kenosabi]

Football hooligans are such an interesting sociological topic.

[@nedludd7622]

Yeah, that is something I have never understood.

[@fisk0]

Well, there's a reason dictatorships like major sports events, not to mention how pretty much the entire field of sports broadcasting was pioneered by Leni Riefenstahl.

[@Vandal_Savage]

​@@nedludd7622 I'd recommend reading 'Unseen Academicals' by Terry Pratchett. It's satire, but it's probably still very accurate.

[@RevStickleback]

This one had nothing to do with football hooligans, although the was a riot the same day as this that resulted in some young lad being killed when part of a wall fell on him, and 39 died at Heysel Stadium, because of crowd trouble, 18 days later.

[@PopularMonsterUSA]

Another great video! ❤

[@paul6925]

As a Canadian who has no interest in hockey, I can relate to you 😂

[@frankryan2505]

Was my fifth birthday a few days before the match, my dad was going to take me to valley parade for my first game but mum changed the day of my birthday party and here we are.. Heard some heartbreaking stories when i was older, and later met one of the first responders who still carried a lot of trauma.. Will be the first of the PD videos i just cant bring myself to watch.

[@n_art_cissist]

I can only imagine the panic disabled victims and people who couldn’t just jump out of the stands. As a disabled person myself it’s a sad reality that we are often left behind or forgotten in emergencies, even in our current age

[@mickeydodds1]

Nearly everyone who's done an 'Health and Safety Induction Course' n the UK, in the last few decades has seen a video of this fire. The purpose of showing the video is to get across an idea of the sheer speed and ferocity of a fire, a point which it illustrates very well.

[@VickeyLowe]

This one, and the footage of the woman who falls into the elevator haunt my dreams, as EHS rep, I went and got my managers permission to have those videos shown to anyone who wasn't taking H&S seriously.

[@johndoerr8853]

I was on the fire prevention team at live fire ranges in Ft.Hood and Camp Casey, while in the Army. From Grass to Brass fire moves fast and after a certain level, cannot be stopped easily.

[@dualcrocadile]

Leg-sphere knowledge lol

[@Rorschach.]

I am a football fan who has traveled far and wide supporting my team and I remember precisely where I was the day that this horrific tragedy happened. As with many other football tragedies, there but for the grace of good fortune, go I.

[@darksu6947]

Do you also keep up with the Kardashians? 😂

[@thomascook578]

Same here, remember hearing on the radio that the game had been stopped, but at tge time it never said, wasn't until I got hone and saw it on TV, my team had and still has a similar stand, albeit now fire proofed.

[@kawaiiarchive357]

I experienced a car fire and mild smoke inhalation is no joke. It permanently altered my voice plus I imagine reduced my life span. Point being is smoke is just as dangerous as the fire.

[@BobDeGuerre]

Ditto on the car fire. Who knew surviving that would still be wreaking havoc on my life after 20+ yrs. After 4 months pinned to the sofa with chemical pneumonia, I had severe athsma, plus I became hyper-allergic to previous allergens. Then, over the next decade that process generalized to my entire immune system, which now keeps over-reacting & attacking my heart, kidneys & liver every time Im exposed to viruses. Fun, fun.

[@mattsceilingfansandmore2573]

Hey mate, you are super close to a million subscribers. Heres hoping you make it there, and maybe to 10 million too.

[@ljenk5]

John, I’m allergic to sport as well, love you Videos thanks for all the effort, don’t give sport a second thought, you’re awesome!

[@winngh]

This reminds me of an incident that occurred in Ghana were several people got burnt around a fuel station during heavy rains. Things like this happen unexpectedly.

[@saxongreen78]

"Legacy infrastructure", even old wooden grandstands, can still be SAFE if maintained and brought up to code. I remember a contemporary news soundbyte about pre Decimal (pre 1970) litter being present among articles of forensic evidence...not particularly expensive to clean that out and install a layer of SAND, board the gaps and place sandboxes throughout for cigarette butts.

[@danielsmith2455]

I love this channel, you have become part of my Saturday morning routine. Thank you for these awesome videos.

[@jakehinton732]

Clearly sir you are my twin on the other side of the Atlantic puddle. For real, i do relate

[@3lli0]

Great video! Are you covering Hillsborough next?

[@evanmcc1877]

As an Irishman and Dubliner you should look into the Stardust Fire in 1981. Similar details to this, just not a Football Stadium. Topical for us here as a recent inquest ruled an Unlawful Killing which exonerated the victims who were initially blamed at the time

[@ExplodingConsole]

Hearing about the debris under the seats reminded me of the King's Cross fire where the same thing with debris under the escalator fueled it.

[@pastorjerrykliner3162]

To be fair, a fire extinguisher probably wouldn't have been of much use... The fire started in the debris under the stands and, by the time it was actually noticed, a single...or even multiple...extinguisher probably wouldn't have been sufficient and they couldn't have gotten to the fire start anyway since the floorboards provided cover. I'm not saying that they were correct for not having extinguishers present, merely that if they had been present I don't think much would have been different. The locked gates, on the other hand...

[@merc7105]

Thanks John.

[@pikminlord1]

world's fastest bot comments, god damn

[@WhiffTheRubbishEngine1869]

I know right?

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I don’t know got to get rid of them

[@bartsanders1553]

PFP: Vagina Comment: [disertation on human expression]

[@bartsanders1553]

@@PlainlyDifficult We've been working on gnats for about 3 billion years. This might take a while.

[@j3tts0n65]

@@PlainlyDifficult I don’t think it’s possible for them to be stoped 😂 They come like a wave of flies each one you squash another comes in

[@MedievalGenie]

Oh wow, now there is a Plainly Difficult bingo! Brilliant!

[@meatharbor]

"Death by misadventure" is the most hooligan cause of death evur. I can only imagine the coroner's report: "'Ey done 'emselves *A MISCHIEF!"*

[@WoodenH0e]

Saw the video, it is insane how it went from a bit smoke to one massive fire in a couple of minutes

[@thesadleviathan5416]

I love coming home from doing my washing to your productions. Now to sit down and do an actual man’s sport: (painting war dollies) while listening to your narration

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

I'm sipping my second (very big) cup of morning tea, before settling in to some deeply manly sewing on a replica 1840's Royal Navy uniform. Hope your painting goes well!

[@darksu6947]

​@@thing_under_the_stairsReal men know how to sew!

[@generaliserad]

Ooh, FU. This was part of my first responder/smoke diver offshore fire fighting training. I hate it. FU and thanks for your content.

[@James-ld2jc]

Watching the real-time footage is horrific, the fire speads so quickly...

[@PXAbstraction]

Exits padlocked during the game? Why would they possibly do that?!

[@Zaguzah]

To prevent those without tickets from sneaking into the grounds to see the match for free.

[@StarlightSocialist]

I've had roles in workplace safety throughout my career and there's a pattern with this kind of thing. With hindsight it's always incredibly obvious how some issue in a relatively minor part of a system can have disastrous consequences in the event of a catastrophy. When I read your comment I was reminded of a conversation I had with my brother after an OSHA reportable. I explained the accident and the failure chain leading up to it and he responded "I don't understand, that just seems psychotic." The accident involved a forklift, and anytime lift equipment is involved it's bound to be nasty. The worker suffered a laceration across his thigh from one of the forks and needed a bunch of stitches. Lots of blood. I used to say that 'any day that I didn't have to fill out paperwork was a good day'. After the incident I changed that to 'any day I don't have to break out a spill kit is a good day'. Here's the crazy part: the worker who was injured was also the forklift operator. No one else was involved. He followed all procedures, including setting the parking break when he exited the cabin. The vehicle remained stationary. So how the actual fuck does a serious injury occur? The worker was adjusting the forks in preparation for a lift. Totally normal, routine thing. You lift a retaining pin on one fork then push/pull it sideways so the forks are the right width apart. This takes a bit of manhandling and proper procedure is to stand to the side of the vehicle. It's forbidden to stand in between the forks, though lazy people still take that approach. (The risk is that the vehicle may start moving unexpectedly. You always set the parking break and put it in neutral, but triple redundancy) This worker was safety conscious and followed procedures. He adjusted the left fork, then walked around to adjust the right fork. Have you ever walked into the corner of a table and gotten a nasty bruise? The same thing can happen with fork lift forks, maybe it puts a rip in your pants. Except this time it ripped several inches through his thigh because earlier that day SOMEONE HAD SHARPENED THE FORK WITH AN ANGLE GRINDER. That's actually normal, but the immediate normal person reaction is "that seems like you're psychotic and trying to set up some final destination shit." Just like fucking locking exterior doors. See, the forks wear with use, and they pick up dents and burrs from scraping the racking. Shit happens and even the smoothest stick jockey occasionally mulches a pallet. So the forks have to be regularly reprofiled. That used to be done as needed by staff in house, in addition to all the other vehicle maintenance. Except that position got eliminated to cut costs and replaced with an outside contractor. Reprofiling is now done quarterly and the forks get pretty gnarly between servicing. The more damaged they are the more grinding it takes to set them right. Which is how this particular fork got an edge that could lacerate.

[@PXAbstraction]

@@StarlightSocialist A very interesting explanation. So rare to see in KZbin comments. 🙂 Thanks!

[@mbvoelker8448]

That was really interesting. As a klutz I can totally relate to that happening. I have a 3-finger scar on my leg from a slight stumble near a crate of art glass with a protruding corner, A bruise on my shoulder from walking into the corner of a piece of equipment at work, and a big bruise on the back of my leg that I can't figure out what I hit. You get busy, protruding things aren't quite in the part of the bifocals to be in focus, and wham. 999 out of 1000 you say ouch and get back on task. The the odds run out.

[@Flipper86]

Ruined more than one pair of pants or shirts when I worked for an office furniture store. Caught the corner of a file cabinet, desk, or panel hardware in the warehouse. Happened to my boss often enough, he kept spare clothes in his office.

[@FailedRacers]

I definitely relate to the lack of interest in sports/understanding others part. That is until I discovered racing. It has a different vibe from the rest. Looking up all of the different technical details and delving into the mechanical complexities of race cars really brings a lot of joy. So much so that I ended up starting my channel to share this joy with everyone else.

[@murrayreid2748]

Have vague memories of this from my youth,(live Down Under)...but much like learning in Seconds From Disaster about the Kings Cross Fire & its wooden escalators, its amazing given how widespread smoking was BITD, these disasters didn't happen sooner.😕

[@Kkubey]

On another note, I find it absolutely terrifying that there were people smoking on that in the first place.

[@An_Appeal_To_Heaven]

I never understood the whole _"We won!"_ thing... I didn't see you out on the field, bud.

[@AndyFletcherX31]

I could see the fire from where I was in Bradford that day. I'd been at the stadium about a week before for something unrelated to football. I remember for about a week afterwards everyone in the city were quiet like they were in shock - mind you so was I. The memories upset me now almost 40 years later. I think I'd walk out of the room if someone tried to show me the footage for a fire training course - I really don't think I could handle seeing it.

[@puterman7642]

I feel your sports conversation pain. My male colleagues discuss American Hand Egg, and I have only evert been fluent briefly during my unfortunate past marriage to a Raiders fan.

[@Chris-rc9ky]

In a bizzare twist of fate, it was due to this fire that my parents met. It was the day before mothers day in the US and both were dragged to a bar by their respective friend groups. My mom was the designated driver and my dad was there for a free beer with one of his friends after helping them out. My dad was sitting at the bar watching the TV while it was showing a story about this happening. My mom walked up and said that this was horrible to happen. My dad agreed, and they began small talk. The rest is history. They have been together for 39 years and married 38. And that is how a football stadium fire made it so I would exist.

[@Serenity_Dee]

I'm a health economist and I worked in tobacco policy for the better part of a decade, and yeah, when accounting for the public burden of smoking we were mostly concerned with heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc., not massive fires.

[@gregcampwriter]

Here in the United States, I have the same problem with what my fellow Americans call football. Few subjects bore me more, and every time I hear about some game being played, I wonder why we didn't settle that last year.

[@dennis2376]

Thank you. Have a great day.

[@Susie_Floozie]

To me, avidly following sports is equivalent to obsessing over celebrity marriages--both evanescent pursuits can go flip. But a disaster makes me interested, and this is a nasty one. The chap at 8:17 looks appropriately harrowed.

[@cadillacdeville5828]

Good morning John ❤

[@andy70d35]

I remember seeing that on TV as it was broadcast live, not interested in football, but dad wanted to see the game. Never forgotten it

[@GoyBenius_0901]

Jesus what a fuckin nightmare.

[@ronsloan7662]

Hey John, like yourself I'm not a sports fan. That said this was a very interesting video and it was a very unfortunate disaster. Thanks for the video and keep up the great work. Cheers!

[@kieronparr3403]

The speed it happened was insane.

[@gary5234]

thank you for telling a little bit about your life in the beginning. I have a hunch that was a bit hard for you. Other people out there have a similar life, or even less interaction. So .. thank you.

[@techyMrB]

We were shown the footage of this at work as part of our fire training. It was scary how quickly it took hold and engulfed the entire stand.