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And all you could smell was burning.". People had walked through turnstiles and along a wooden corridor before descending the steps into their seats. Wildman: "I was dragged on to the pitch and into a line of people, who couldn't do much for themselves and were lying there. [6], The 198485 season had been one of Bradford City's most successful seasons, ending with City clinching the championship title courtesy of a 20 victory against Bolton Wanderers in the penultimate game of the season. "The letters that went to the club, the council's failings, the police's failings, even as supporters we allowed a culture where the gates were locked. [36], In 2010, Susan Fletcher's son and survivor of the Bradford City fire (and witness to the Hillsborough disaster), Martin Fletcher, openly criticised the club's hierarchy at the time of the fire and the subsequent investigation. "Some of the local residents opened their houses so people could make phone calls. She was hysterical and trying to find her three children. Eighty names were unaccounted for and there were no positive indications about the cause of the fire. Videos, gifs, or aftermath photos of machinery, structures, or devices Police officers also assisted in the rescue attempts. I had no idea. (2015), 2003 Football League Third Division play-off final, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bradford_City_stadium_fire&oldid=1141323458, Fire disasters involving barricaded escape routes, Pages containing London Gazette template with parameter supp set to y, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2010, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2021, Articles needing additional references from May 2018, All articles needing additional references, Articles needing additional references from December 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Fan attempted to extinguish a lit cigarette, it slipped through floorboards and fell on rubbish, igniting it. Christopher Hammond, who was 12 on the day, said on the 20th anniversary of the fire: "As a 12-year-old, it was easy to move on I didn't realise how serious it was until I looked at the press coverage over the next few days. Other parents whose children had not arrived home on Saturday called at the police station or sat in cars outside, waiting for news. "That's when I thought 'this is time to get out of here'. At the final home match against Barnsley at the end of April, Bradford City fans collected more than 8,000 in a bucket collection. The main stand at Valley Parade burned down after what was thought to be a dropped cigarette led to flames which engulfed the entire wooden structure.