Bradford Fire

[poolman]

Just watched a program about the Bradford fire on BT Sport and it was absolutely horrific

Got me thinking about the Yams stand, now I canny stand that lot to a man but that stand they have is a disaster waiting to happen and I would hate any football fan to go through what these Bradford fans did

For the sake of peoples lives I think the powers that be have a look at that programme and then look at the Hearts stand and make sure this type of thing never happens again

I was in the main Hearts stand two years ago and it's a disaster waiting to happen

Get it sorted, we don't want anything like that tragedy again

[BroxburnHibee]

Couldn't agree more - how that thing gets a safety certificate baffles me.

[Hibrandenburg]

Asbestos won't burn.

[brog]

Just watched a program about the Bradford fire on BT Sport and it was absolutely horrific

Got me thinking about the Yams stand, now I canny stand that lot to a man but that stand they have is a disaster waiting to happen and I would hate any football fan to go through what these Bradford fans did

For the sake of peoples lives I think the powers that be have a look at that programme and then look at the Hearts stand and make sure this type of thing never happens again

I was in the main Hearts stand two years ago and it's a disaster waiting to happen

Get it sorted, we don't want anything like that tragedy again

I posted some time back that I refused to go to that stand & persuaded my family likewise ever since a very scary incident about 20 years ago. I agree your comments 100%. I started to watch last night but found the programme too upsetting.

[Keith_M]

I think the main stand at Tynecastle has long since outlived its usefulness but I don't think you can make a comparison between it and the Bradford Main Stand.


IIRC, Bradford Stand was not fireproofed and the Club had allowed literally tons of paper and other flammable debris to accumulate under it for decades.


Tynecastle's Main Stand is a *****hole but it IS fireproof.

[NAE NOOKIE]

I think the main stand at Tynecastle has long since outlived its usefulness but I don't think you can make a comparison between it and the Bradford Main Stand.


IIRC, Bradford Stand was not fireproofed and the Club had allowed literally tons of paper and other flammable debris to accumulate under it for decades.


Tynecastle's Main Stand is a *****hole but it IS fireproof.

I would think that's true .... after Bradford no club, not even the Yams, would allow their stands to be in such an unsafe condition. Its plain though that the Tynecastle main stand is still not fit for purpose and is unsafe for a load of other reasons.

[Peevemor]

I think the main stand at Tynecastle has long since outlived its usefulness but I don't think you can make a comparison between it and the Bradford Main Stand.


IIRC, Bradford Stand was not fireproofed and the Club had allowed literally tons of paper and other flammable debris to accumulate under it for decades.


Tynecastle's Main Stand is a *****hole but it IS fireproof.


I would think that's true .... after Bradford no club, not even the Yams, would allow their stands to be in such an unsafe condition. Its plain though that the Tynecastle main stand is still not fit for purpose and is unsafe for a load of other reasons.

If the accommodation under a stand was to catch fire, would you rather be at ER or Tynie? the Tynie main stand may be "fire-proofed" (and there's only one way to find out how effective that is) but it certainly isn't non-combustible. At Tynie, there is also the issue of the amount of time it takes to empty the stand in the event of a fire.

[JimBHibees]

If the accommodation under a stand was to catch fire, would you rather be at ER or Tynie? the Tynie main stand may be "fire-proofed" (and there's only one way to find out how effective that is) but it certainly isn't non-combustible. At Tynie, there is also the issue of the amount of time it takes to empty the stand in the event of a fire.

For that reason if there was a serious fire during a game and that stand was full there is IMO no way that there wouldnt be serious casualties.

[hibsforeurope]

Wooden stands should have their capacity limited or even shut down in this day and age. This has happened at a lot of other grounds in Scotland and the UK, Partick, Raith, Preston all spring to mind, how Tynecastle is still open and passed safe for that capacity is beyond me.

[jacomo]

It's alright... budgie is 'thinking about' redevelopment so that's probably bought them another 5 years to discover that it's not really viable to redevelop Tynecastle.

She's said she's not going to be in charge for the long term, so her best bet is to keep Tynecastle open for as long as possible before handing the problem over to someone else.

[Peevemor]

It's alright... budgie is 'thinking about' redevelopment so that's probably bought them another 5 years to discover that it's not really viable to redevelop Tynecastle.

She's said she's not going to be in charge for the long term, so her best bet is to keep Tynecastle open for as long as possible before handing the problem over to someone else.

They'll end up as partners with CEC in the greenbelt. David Murray will gift the land (thus unlocking the rest of his development), Hearts will sell Tynie to raise their part and the Council/Sportscotland, etc. will come up with the rest to build a football/athletic stadium.

[jacomo]

They'll end up as partners with CEC in the greenbelt. David Murray will gift the land (thus unlocking the rest of his development), Hearts will sell Tynie to raise their part and the Council/Sportscotland, etc. will come up with the rest to build a football/athletic stadium.

You're probably right. But will Budge want to be the owner that sold Tynecastle? Her chat about possible redevelopment just seems like delaying tactics to me.

[dangermouse]

It's alright... budgie is 'thinking about' redevelopment so that's probably bought them another 5 years to discover that it's not really viable to redevelop Tynecastle.

She's said she's not going to be in charge for the long term, so her best bet is to keep Tynecastle open for as long as possible before handing the problem over to someone else.

Surely not the attitude such an upstanding member of the community would take :rolleyes:

[Smartie]

Was the BT sport programme different to the BBC one? (I watched that one on i-player last week).

I was talking to my brother about this last Saturday as we waited to vacate the East.

A stand needs to be evacuated in the event of fire in 2 and a half minutes. The East would be fine because in an emergency they would open the doors at the front and let you spill onto the pitch. There were serious problems with the design of the Bradford stand that prevented people from doing this.

I could imagine the lower tier of the Tynecastle stand being fine - they can just spill onto the pitch. But what about the top tier? Is there any easy way to get out of there?

How quickly could we vacate a full top tier of any of our stands?

[liamh2202]

Was the BT sport programme different to the BBC one? (I watched that one on i-player last week).

I was talking to my brother about this last Saturday as we waited to vacate the East.

A stand needs to be evacuated in the event of fire in 2 and a half minutes. The East would be fine because in an emergency they would open the doors at the front and let you spill onto the pitch. There were serious problems with the design of the Bradford stand that prevented people from doing this.

I could imagine the lower tier of the Tynecastle stand being fine - they can just spill onto the pitch. But what about the top tier? Is there any easy way to get out of there?

How quickly could we vacate a full top tier of any of our stands?

We would have longer as concrete and steel will hold back fire and contain smoke better than treated wood

[brog]

If the accommodation under a stand was to catch fire, would you rather be at ER or Tynie? the Tynie main stand may be "fire-proofed" (and there's only one way to find out how effective that is) but it certainly isn't non-combustible. At Tynie, there is also the issue of the amount of time it takes to empty the stand in the event of a fire.

It was the difficulty in exiting the stand which caused me considerable problems some 20 years ago. At one stage the crush was so bad I was worried about a smaller scale Hillsborough happening. If people are fighting to escape a fire the potential for tragedy increases.

[Peevemor]

Was the BT sport programme different to the BBC one? (I watched that one on i-player last week).

I was talking to my brother about this last Saturday as we waited to vacate the East.

A stand needs to be evacuated in the event of fire in 2 and a half minutes. The East would be fine because in an emergency they would open the doors at the front and let you spill onto the pitch. There were serious problems with the design of the Bradford stand that prevented people from doing this.

I could imagine the lower tier of the Tynecastle stand being fine - they can just spill onto the pitch. But what about the top tier? Is there any easy way to get out of there?

How quickly could we vacate a full top tier of any of our stands?

As far as I know the criteria/regs for this haven't changed since any of our stands were built. Each seat will be situated a maximum travel distance from a "place of safety" (ie. the non-combustible stair enclosures).

[Peevemor]

We would have longer as concrete and steel will hold back fire and contain smoke better than treated wood

Steel is crap in a fire and melts pretty quickly - it has to be protected.

[liamh2202]

Steel is crap in a fire and melts pretty quickly - it has to be protected.

Compared to wood??

[emerald green]

It was the difficulty in exiting the stand which caused me considerable problems some 20 years ago. At one stage the crush was so bad I was worried about a smaller scale Hillsborough happening. If people are fighting to escape a fire the potential for tragedy increases.

The bit in bold - panic sets in, people fall, and then they get trampled upon.

The Bradford City disaster was caused by a lit cigarette falling through a hole in the stand's floorboards onto piles of uncleared paper and debris. The blaze spread very rapidly and the stand's wooden roof was quickly ablaze. Many exits were either locked or shut. It took less than four minutes for the entire stand to be engulfed in flames. It was just horrific.

At least nowadays smoking is banned inside football stadia, or at least it's meant to be. That said, the old stand at Tynecastle is an absolute disgrace.

I also remember once getting caught in a crush in the tunnel which was behind / under the terracing at the McLeod Street (school end) at Tynecastle after a derby match. When I think back now, that was a disaster waiting to happen too. Thankfully, it didn't.

[SquashedFrogg]

I remember the main stand at Brockville and shudder when reading this. Going for a pie at HT was like being in the lower deck of the Cutty Sark during high seas. A disaster waiting to happen! In fact, I've built safer wooden structures in my back garden after 2 bottles of wine!

[Peevemor]

Compared to wood??

Steel starts to melt at about 1000°F whereas timber can retain its structural integrity at twice that. So if, for example, you have a hefty timber post/column holding up a floor, the surface of it may burn but the core will continue to do its job whereas steel would have already buckled.

With that said the old stand at Tynie simply isn't fit for purpose and should have been condemned long ago.