The Carnival Ride Fire that claimed 6 Children's Lives | PART 1 | Accident or Something Sinister?

[Music] it's been an absolute night of tragedy here at the L Park North Sydney can hear screams everywhere the fire started in the ghost train that's the last time I saw more for the four boys were among seven people incinerated I saw fly to noral they came to the house two young detectives I police covered it up that fire was deliberately what do you think caused this fire a aome the investigation was Reed corruption well that's murder Max murder it's time for the truth it's never too [Music] [Music] late the newspapers called me the luckiest Boy [Music] Alive there I am i' been today ated and that got splashed across the paper I never felt Lucky in in in fact I felt [ __ ] there's the kid there's that boy and the attention didn't do me any good and it hasn't done me any good ever since it's has been the worst thing that's happened to me the attention for 40 years I've always just wondered what actually happened to my four friends that night it's taken me 40 years to find this opportunity to finally tell my story this is a day that I've been building to for such a long period of time and here it is I chose to talk about this and enter into it and it's going to be tough I've reached the age of 53 I turned 54 this year and I have a I've had a wonderful wonderful life I don't try and live my life for those boys or those families because obviously there was a fair amount of guilt to be a Survivor what they experienced in that the final seconds of their life I'm glad I didn't get to say it [Music] everybody said it was an accident everybody a fire in the ghost train at Linda Park one cold Windows night in 9th of June [Music] 1979 a fire started in the ghost train at approximately 10:10 p.m. Saturday the 9th of June more than 30 people were riding the train when attendant saw black smoke pouring from entries and exits of the building seconds later empty carriages emerged in flames and the this stage there was no idea how many people were trapped inside it's unknown how many people are actually dead in there at the moment but we do know that up to 11 cars were trapped in the ghost train so far the police have been able to identify only two of the victims because the bodies had been badly bured a lot of it through clothing and uh a lot of it will be through dental work one lucky 12-year-old school boy who's still under sedation narrowly missed riding on the goat's train at the time of Saturday nights Inferno four of his schoolmates from Waverly College were among the seven who perished Jason Hallman says he got in the carriage behind his mates and when the fire was noticed the attendant managed to haul him out my friends engulfed in flames they died just in front of me I asked myself why did I survive and not them why me I asked myself that nearly every single day my four friends we all lived in the same sub basically B flu in Sydney it was a peninsula so we the proximity to each other was very close they were known as the poor [Music] omegas Jonathan Billings Sheamus ril Richard Carol and Michael Johnson The Four Boys the four Amigos they did everything together they went everywhere together the definition of inseparable and then there was me that's me there Jason we're all at the same school but they were just that little bit older they were all in year eight I was in year seven and I was the little hanger honor you know what I mean us to chase after must must have annoyed the crap out of them you better run you that they were very good to me never excluded me just bunch of young boys terrorizing the neighborhood on our bikes and going Here There and Everywhere and doing what we did yes sir The Cliffs at Watson's Bay Diamond Bay we were forever exploring them all the boys played R and we loved it a lot of sailing I tell you what they were they were explorers we would go around the suburbs we would climb down Vines at the back of the Bowling Club we were very like we're very fortunate but now they're all [Music] gone it was just so weird it was just one minute they're there and then the next minute they're not just horrible accident that's what all led to believe and that's what I believed that's what I was fed and that's what I believed that was the case until I met Martin [Music] CH Martin sharp who left such an indelible mark on Australian humor is back but this time not as a Cartoonist not as a satirist but as a painter who's determined to keep his Avant guard up Martin's mind was uh had a terrific mind his pop art pushed boundaries and he was key to the cultural revolution in the' 70s he helped start the yellow house near King's cross as a piece of Living Art M used to work at Luna Park when did you first become involved with lunner Park uh 1973 invited to redo the face and then started to get very involved with the place he brought it back to its Glory Days and then the fire happened and Martin was [Music] chattered and he started collecting a lot of information cuz he wanted to know what happened he started to investigate the case sharp says there's no doubt arson caused the tragedy no doubt there's something to hide there and that the whole business is shuny they do not want to admit that something so horrific could have been done with those people could have been burnt alive on purpose now people do not want to believe that when I was introduced to Martin and heard him speak and hear his thoughts I mean that that blew me away I mean it just it just seemed Bonkers that someone had these thoughts about this event he passed on to me that some things happened that he thought were part of the over all picture that if there was this element of um criminality he was like a dog with a bone he was one of the bravest human beings I've ever come [Music] across one of the nation's leading radicals renowned for painting Luna Park has died Mar sharp was 71 the 1979 ghost train fire that killed six children and an adult haunted him having been introduced to the material and what I now believe by a third party Martin sharp now that he has passed I really want to take it to its final point and I don't know if there is a final Point there's a film make myself I tried to make a film about what happened for my mates for their families for everyone involved but every time I tried it all became too much I just I just need some help I'm on my way to see Jason Holman at the bill viw Hill home of the late Martin sharp now Jason wants to show me something I don't know what that something is what material or what information he may have about the mysterious ghost train fire of 1979 but I am very intrigued hello Jason hello Cara welcome to irian thanks for having me it's good to be here through this way okay where are you taking me well I'm taking to a room that houses a lot of information not too many people have seen it there's two keys that exist so this is quite guarded yes and I'm quite guarded with it they have to be this is the ghost train room of Martin Sharp's house and in here is an incredible amount oh my gosh of files and information and press materials and cuttings that have been collected this is where I've been sitting and there's another cover there as well Cara I mean it doesn't stop it's yeah there's Mor reports in there there's I don't know how Martin managed to do it but he got his hands on um information from the courts Martin had this amazing ability to um to collect and and then do his own research and but he would go looking where most people wouldn't go looking there's also I would say probably maybe 100 hours of just audio cassette and uh people talking to Martin can I get these cassettes out yeah go for your life oh goodness I'm going to get this out yeah they're a bit tricky that's just one tray I mean there's you're good so that's one holy doly look at this look at the names on these ran Neville ran the premere mhm Luna Park meetings development debates Have you listened to all of these no I haven't what do your hopes on this what do I hopes on them I hope that more light is sha on finding out some answers more answers if Martin sharp with all of this material working on it for so long if he didn't get an answer final answer a Smoking Gun do you think we can don't know right let's find [Music] out because [Music] children okay so I've had a chance to go through these properly now and there's nearly 200 tapes they're up to 90 minutes long my gosh okay so we're hundreds of hours hundreds and hundreds to have someone go through these properly and transcribe them we're talking about weeks and on top of that the sound quality has degraded over time so we might have to do something around that um that said we need to go through all of these because there's interviews on them with a whole cast of different characters a lot of interviews are with Hopkins Ted Hopkins hkin Mr Luna Park Mr Luna Park he's the guy that brings Luna Park from South Australia to Sydney in the first place in 1935 there's interviews with Hopkins over the course of a decade and in this one for instance Mar shop just asks him point blank what do you think was behind the Fire have a listen to this wicked it's a shame I don't know to this he was unless it was us and they threw a large amount of Kos pisor that's a possible explanation do you think that that had the ghost train not burnt down that the that the park would be still open now I'm sure it would be I'm sure it would be uh I'm not going to be political so turn that off [Music] [Applause] [Music] Sydney's Luna Park opened in 1935 took its name from the HG world's novel a trip to the moon and was based on what was described as the biggest and best Luna Park in the world in New York l park [Music] get now grab your seasickness pills folks and jump aboard the Big Dipper at Luna [Music] par the kitty just love every minute of it of course I could be wrong about that we've got the Dipper we've got dods there's the Roa and the caves we've got FAL slides and Maes and our chips get all Raves we're entertainment value you just can't beat Luna Park when they ask us why we open we answer just belong it was the place in Sydney for a young person to go out that was the place to go Luna Park in order for you guys to get to Luna Park what did you need to overcome our parents it was hard going to get permission very hard [Music] many people felt very guilty about it including the parents of the children and because they let their children go out for the first time in their own Jon had never been out on a country on his own no never never we together in a park all the time but what do you expect you know you expect to go have a good time come home that's what you expect and that's something that I I deal with every day that when he needed me the most I wasn't there and I live with that every day quite frankly I've got some some f of [Music] me Jonathan was a very caring but a very sensitive boy but very caring he had a great sense of humor he just loved his mates he just loved going to school he loved surfing football he just loved his mother great de he would get himself dressed he get him own breakfast come into the bedroom and say mom and dad would you like a cup of tea before I go to school and he to go make the cup of tea and bring her both into us and off the school he would [Music] go and he also wrote a story he said when he his great wish was when he left school to go to Africa to shoot the animals but he was going to shoot them with a camera just you know just to take that photo so he was a very sensitive boy and he had a lot of feeling you [Music] know my name is p Johnson and I'm the younger sister of Michael Johnson both my parents have passed away so I decided I would talk about Michael and our family for the Johnson's I've decided not to go on camera because Luna Park affected my family in such a horrendous way Michael was The Golden Child he was the first child and the first grandchild both Mom and Dad worked we had our grandmother look after us when they were both at work she absolutely adored Michael everyone just loved Michael so this is my favorite photo he was a beautiful brother he was very caring and always looking out for me very protective Michael was really smart really intelligent he got into selective school I got to see some of Michael's reports and he just had fantastic marks my Michael is very good at writing Michael is brilliant at mathematics Michael is the perfect student so yeah he was really switched on and academically quite brilliant Michael would have definitely gone on to University would have been a scientist would have excelled yeah it's just so sad I wish I'd still had Michael here I still wish I had my big brother shame as R hilly beautiful beautiful boy beautiful quiet young man loved his rugby was into his sailing joined in everything Sheamus had a very very strong sense of right and wrong also looked out for his friends he was always smiling I remember that about him it was always smiling well I hadn't actually seen this Photograph before and it's probably the last photograph taken of of Sheamus it's got the C best friends so Sheamus is pictured here with his best friend Richard Carrol your most important job was to look after your children now I said Luna Park's a safe place kids was four of them together there were adults around it's a perfectly safe place my wife could never forgive herself for allowing them to go for allowing him to go she thinks that she gave in too easily she should never have given [Music] in we miss him terribly he was it's it's as though you've only got one child it's sort of everything turns on on that child um and uh he was such a happy [Music] child we had five beautiful children you couldn't have a more idealic life we were in a glorious bubble we lived in where life was just perfect you know Dad worked flat out mom worked flat out even looking after you know five kids they did everything together and we just thought a Brady Bunch on [Music] steroids Richard he was a delightful child he adored his sister who was named Katherine he called her his cookie girl he uh adored his younger brother his name was Robert sometimes Robert would get scared and Richard get into bed with him and we'd find them Midnight with the electric blanket on absolutely boiling cuz they were close together he was very good at swimming he did very well at school and won quite a few prizes he used to love skiing he used to ski at threadb and you'd see about three or four girls skiing behind him there oh he was a very handsome child he wanted to have lots of time for friends they were very important to him they were tough kids here very good kids really good kids Saturday night of June rocks around anticipation building we going and play our py games py done tick that box we go home get dressed spend the afternoon with our families early evening comes around part of the agreement was we had to go to mass marry magdalin Church in Rose Bay [Music] I was never uh Catholic Behold the Lamb of God the Catholic boys got up and had Holy Communion and I joined them and he placed the body of Christ on the tongue I was shooting myself the whole time it haunted me that I did it I thought I'd piss the big [Music] do you know what I mean cuz I wasn't Catholic Oh D what have I done cuz I didn't go to school why would I do it on this night so MTH finished and that's pretty much where the night for us as young kids on our first night out that's where the excitement really kicked in I would have been huge that first independent Fay into the real world we all set our farewells bus stop for some reason I was watching them get get on the bus I'm not sure why I was watching them but um yeah boys jump up the back of the bus I joined them didn't spend much time at the back of the bus cuz I wasn't one of the tough guys but here I am at the back of the bus with the boys heading off to Lun Park wave them off and they but that's the last we saw of [Music] him and here we are leaving as sub of Sydney going into the big city crossing the harbor where is this going to take us where's this going to end what's going to happen tonight am I going to see Richie kiss of God am I going to get to kiss a girl how am I going to go on the ride am I going to cry my eyes out am I going to hang out with the big boys and deal with it I'm going to you know okay this is the start of the night with the four boys and no one else this is this is just the [Music] start as well yeah yeah it's not been an easy one Martin for me I suppose I feel like it's been a sort of an acceptance thing you know after all this time I wondered how much i' really accepted at all yeah all this s say over and over in my head it's my children and my husband that it's it's part of me well course this is a bit heavy I don't know how to to deal with it you know [Music] I mean they've really murdered my family when it all boils down to it it was murder yeah so extraordinary words and they're the words of Jenny godson Jenny godson lost her entire family in the 1979 ghost train fire her two young sons and her husband virtually burnt to death in front of her eyes so it wasn't just the four Waverly boys who perished that night no when was that conversation recorded it's 1986 according to the label yeah and according to these trays of tapes Martin sharp and Jenny godson have multiple conversations over the years for her to be talking about murder with Martin sharp I mean she she obviously trusts him I mean Janie godson was was claiming murder in 1986 all these years later what is Jenny godson claiming [Music] now don't know how I would have survived all this without Martin he's taking me under his wing and till I met Martin I realize and there could be other reasons or was more to it to me the eye sort of thing I think it was huge cover up I just know people haven't told the [Music] truth Manan you know you can't bring them back just stupid it really I just become a part of History I think that's the sad and I don't mean anything anymore what do you want I just want I want to know how they do I want to know the truth about [Music] everything that's all I want now is I want to know when I go into my journey that I've done with the help of Martin the best I can to try and find what really happened that night what was his mission man Justice truth finally out what really [Music] happened shouldn't have happened doesn't make sense you don't go somewhere like Luna Park and expect that to [Music] happen supposed to be safe was what I'd like to do first off is to rewind the clock and take me right back to the 9th of June 1979 yeah it's very hard to remember that it's very hard to um [Music] I'm fren if I go back there too much I won't get out of it do you remember circular key yes I do remember we had to come back to the [Music] key it was the year of the tri there was a lot of processions different countries all that sort of thing happening Damian had just turned six and Craig was just four in December how beautiful theyd never been to Sydney never had never seen the ocean or the beach or anything of that nature before so special for them and and for us too because we hadn't done it think like that [Music] before I LIF at work it was a very small Country Town very dry and Dusty actually and uh hot it had a chemist had you couple of pubs all the basic things that a small community has you know and you got to know the chemist you got to know the baker you got to know the Buie you got to know everyone and John worked as an apprentice builder for the people I live with so I met him there each day we say hello and catch up wasn't loved for um but I think it was his gentleness and kindness and just his way cared you know that Dre me to him I felt good around him I felt safe around him he was like a savior to me he was my savior we got married when I was still 17 we wanted children I Dam [Music] you and then I had C Dan was a little bit cheeky and prend to show off a bit where Craig wouldn't do that Craig would just s to be more of an observer sit back and just take take it all in they were both different but one thing they had in common was their hair color and their [Music] Cy life is very simple you just did your housework he took your kids to school nothing was fancy you know you looked after your home you did your gardening have birthday parties in the park and make their birthday cakes and it was beautiful John really loved being a dad I love being a mom that was one of the most beautiful things I was a good mom John myself Daman and Craig and the dog you know and our beautiful little home with chalks and a willow tree in the backyard and I that was our family unit how did your sons make you feel happy very happy yeah very happy fulfilled so tell me about that June 1979 holiday was a big trip it was we saved for it we know we put money away for we planned it it was an extravagance in the sense that it was so special and something special to do whose idea was Luna Park both of us you heard about it you know and it it was a place to go where you could have lots of fun and laugh and place for children you know to be happy and it's not something that as an average family waren would probably do you know but that was something we decided to do I know was getting really late like getting on dusk so we jumped on the [Music] ferry we crossed the harbor under the Harbor Bridge and I remember getting closer to the Pontoon seeing that face the face of LUN all lit up the Winter's nights and you know it has a certain maniacal look about [Music] it I remember the boys loving the defense of the water and the ocean and they just were just so excited they had all homade jumpers on that night John was mustard gravies was a brownly mustard and diamonds was red I'm wide [Music] eyed that was going to be our playground for the next 4 hours and we purchased our ticket and off we went I we went on every road that we possibly could together I remember when joh the voice came off the roller coaster there was so white really F and we all hugged we went on the Dodge we would have ate too much candy floss we would have thrown things at Target our last stop was Cony Island and we had a hood in [Music] there I was getting late the boys were really quite tired I had the tickets in my hand and I just said which was your favorite ride we've got one ride to go a boy scream the ghost train the ghost train and then this random saw came into my [Music] head I I felt like an ice cream and then I just said to them do you guys want an ice cream Mommy feels like an ice cream and by the time we walked down those stairs out of Cony Island they just took off running out of time here Luna Park what did you all decide we decide to go on the Dodge and they were just putting the latch over sorry no more Riders fellas so then we've G all looked at each other and someone just yelled out GH train we're bolted across to the line we've all lined up there was a man that would punch your tickets and operate the actual ride just crossing over the bridge and looking down and seeing that that face it just reminds me because that night I did see the bodies um if I see a fire it brings flashbacks of that night and it's something I'd like to forget my job was to click all the tickets as as patrons walked in I worked on the ghost train that was you know I took pride in that job and I knew it so well and I ran it so well with my with my colleague I knew it like the back of my hand I walked it before every session Left Right doorway left right right left left left right right right I could walk through there with my eyes closed oh gosh I love that ride that was everything to me the ghost train I was so proud of telling my friends I worked on the ghost train yeah you were like a celebrity it was amazing I I'd wear my Luna Park t-shirt I'd get on the train and there'd be young guys and girls heading to Luna Park and they'd see the t-shirt and they go you work at Luna Park yes and I yeah well I do oh I work on the ghost train you like Elvis everybody wanted to know you get your tickets for the creepiest spine tingling ride of your life on the ghost train tell me about the ghost train you shiver and qu and the ghost train it was a very popular ride everybody had to do the ghost train at least once during a session sometimes we'd get lineups of probably 50 60 70 people at once waiting for the ride [Music] but that night there wasn't there was probably 15 or 20 at any one time waiting for a turn on the ride approaching 10 p.m. did anything seem out of order no nothing it's just business as usual [Music] well we belong to the bankstown r club and um I was the social director and one of the um events that I organized was a night to go out to Luna Park and have some fun had you been there before yeah many times yeah would go with the family I love the ghost train ride I went there with a bunch of friends that night that I grown up with in school we just chose to do one more round of the ghost train uh before everyone meeting together to to head home like most rides um you queue you wait for the attendant uh the train would come out uh the people would get off until the people got off will you allow them to sit on to your carriage and then you would just go off the doors would open up and um in you going to the [Music] ride the ghost chimes like a dark ride that tried to confuse you twists and turns all the time I didn't know what direction you were facing was Pitch Black you couldn't see your hand in front of your [Music] face it was only illuminated by fluorescent paints it's 1930s technology mannequins and papermache and lights spiders hanging down from the roof and some fabric to make it feel like spider webs and very very basic technology doors are opening doors are closing as you're winding your way [Applause] around and then the ride goes out to a caged area where you come out into the park and you can see all the other patrons you'd see it from the main Park and it went around like a [Music] horseshoe and then it goes back into a set of doors when you went back in as soon as your eyes adjusted you'd see the fake fire the artificial fire but you could see it wasn't real it was yeah sort of 3/4 of the way through that imitation fire was like a barrel and it had a fan inside with a chicken wire cover and streamers so when the fan operated streamers would blow upwards with the lights and it would look like a fire we came around the corner to a fireplace and there was a fire in it the Flames just we yeah I saw Flames yeah though yeah it's flaming up like that yeah and it was just the most natural thing to see it was very small fire and a little fireplace That was supposed to be a fireplace so I didn't question it it was just the perfect picture I can just still see it now just sitting there burning and I said to my friend my God that looks real and he said oh that don't be stupid and I said no no it looks real it really looks real and then that's why I just for whatever reason I wanted to touch to see was it real so as we came around I couldn't help it and I went over and I went to touch it went like that and the heat that was coming from it it just I saw went whoa gee that's real that just feels like a real fire which is whoa couldn't have been your mind playing tricks on you no because it the heat that that was the reason yeah it it was the heat that has stayed in my memory for all these years I'll always swear I felt the heat of that imitation fight it was an imitation fire and then we've got on down into the next part doors open doors close very quickly the fireplace passed on our right and it was gone didn't look dangerous just thought it was part of the attraction and when you got out of the ride did you say anything to anyone no no no because everything just happen so quickly why would you have something real inside this ride cuz everything's meant to be fantasy if you had your time over I would approach somebody and let them know but had no idea back then didn't have a clue I was too busy having a good time with my friends um 19 I think now I would if I'd be you know demanding to speak to someone because it's stop off the ride something's not right um but yeah back then just got out of our carriages and walked away to the next ride yeah I remember turning around and looking back at the ghost train and there was a man and his two [Music] sons [Music] I went to Luna Park with uh my niece Elena her husband Frank and a friend of theirs Ingo and I think it was Ellena that said let's go into the G train before we go home so that's what we did I was 22 me and my wife at the time and two friends we never been down to the city and we thought country bumpkins we thought let's go to Luna Park I was a 16-year-old kid just you know out with some mates for a bit of fun I guess by the time we got there there was um we were probably the last ones in the queue I went there with my boyfriend at the time Phil we ghost train was the last for us to go on obviously and uh we just had a fun night that's all it was all [Music] about end of the night they're pretty Keen to get everyone out of here and so they're just pumping them through inching closer inching closer yeah those boys from Waverly College they were so happy they were so happy laughing and joking and they being cheeky you remember them yeah we saw children some young boys that I remember clearly they were behind us they were behind us we were still excited still nervous probably had too much sugar one of them had a bucket of chips and he was flicking the chips at his friend and they're having a really good time did anything seem out of order no nothing so you're outside can you see any smoke no no no you didn't see anything at all nothing nothing at all smell any smoke no no there was definitely no no smoke smell see any fire no didn't seem anything out of the ordinary to us or or we'd have run a mile so by all appearances everything looked normal everything looked okay the people in front of us the gentleman said we're waiting for the others to catch up how about you take this one and we'll go on the next one type of [Music] thing I just was anxious to get my and get back and join them and go on the ride I was thought I was going to join them so I didn't have any sort of I thought I was just going to get Mar going and walk down there and they'd be waiting for me we were next on and popped in the the carriage and off we went they go through the doors we go through the doors and then the two kids and the father got on the carriage in front of [Music] us well John did that [Music] though why he wouldn't have waited for me I don't get that that is something that will torment me cuz I don't understand [Music] [Music] that did you notice anything wrong inside smoke you could smell smoke instantly we smells SP we saw smoke in the dim light it wasn't super thick but it was there I don't think anyone said anything after that we just went through the ride and the smoke started to get thicker the very next thing I remember is simply seeing a bit of flame there was a little bit of flame on the wall on the right hand side two or three spots of flame about the size of your fist just on the wall not not coming up from the bottom and it looked like it was in a picture frame and there were just these little Flames dancing out those little fists of flame were just holes in the wall where the fire had breached the wall and that's when we sort of thought this isn't this isn't part of the ride and as we proceeded I yelled out there's a cage coming up and you're out where the public can see you we might be able to get out looked up couldn't get out all caged in it wasn't just the sides the roof was caged in it was seriously a death track there was no way out you had to go back into the fire to actually get out of the place we had to go back through these rubber doors but you don't know till it opens up how bad it is what did you see when the doors opened up going back [Music] Flames we were going into a definite Inferno no two ways about [Music] that in the wall the other side of that wall it was entirely a light completely from top to bottom it was Blazing it was roaring took your breath away absolutely took your breath away this wall from all the wall from floor to ceiling was completely alot I can't explain it but only that wall the Flames just roared up we screaming fire fire we came around the corner and I looked up and I could see the flame and I could see the Flames above the petition I jumped out the right hand side she jumped out the left hand [Applause] side so if you stayed in the carriage gone finished wouldn't be here wouldn't be talking to you right now the next Carriage was still flashed and I saw the red from The Carriage that went through the next doors and I wasn't going in where that Carriage was could you see anyone in that Carriage going towards the red only the two kids only the the two kids yeah yeah I saw them going through the next doors where the red was yeah it was terrible and I do I do see it sometimes when I'm like in bed about to go to sleep I still remember exactly to this day and that's 40 years since it happened it's something that I'll take to my grave there had to be some way out [Music] I saw a crack of light and I went towards [Music] that so we're at the front of the cube and it's our turn to board the ride everything seemed normal you had no idea something was a mess inside no no clues signals no nothing so Jonathan and Richard they board their Carriage Michael and Sheamus they Bard their [Music] Carriage we come bursting out through those doors and yelling screaming there's fire inside we need to get it stop stop the ride and I said mate the place is on fire he said what what I said the place is on fire friend was yelling at the guy sending people in to just stop that the place is on fire side on there's a car at the door you saw two people in a carriage about to go in yes we just yelled at him the ride operator stopped the ride Steve's job was to operating so he's he had a couple of buttons Steve didn't think it was anything big something small the person who was guiding the cars on he just sort of looked at us in disbelief as if to say what are you talking about it happened so quickly so quick he just couldn't do anything about it and that count wi you who the doors open and they're gone my Carriage nudes the [Applause] door as the doors open a gentleman comes out picks me up full bodily picks me up and puts me over the rail pretty much picks me up holess balless I'm just so surprised I'm taking it back I'm like what what are you doing put me down what the hell are you doing I'm I'm supposed to be following those guys into that thing at this point people are yelling the yelling had started I still hear the screams as if they happened yesterday screeching screeching people in um terrified something was going on inside there which we couldn't see we didn't know about when we got off I felt sick when the screaming started because I knew those children were on board I knew I didn't want to know but I knew I do remember it was a fleeting moment of seeing a woman with some ice cream walking towards the ride and things are starting to go up and by the time I bought that ice cream and turned around it was all happening the smoke I by the time I got across I started to feel really strange and I just got I had the ice cream in my hand I couldn't eat it walked over and stood in front of where they and there was no what they weren't there and they were [Music] gone and next minute the door just opens and people were screaming because the car was on fire carriages are coming out on [Music] fire and it just went right around door open and in a way no one was in them they were empty totally empty the F just got bigger on these carriages and that's obviously visually a a disturbing thing to see cuz I'm waiting for my friends to get off the absolute Mayhem starts to kick in and somebody was screaming somebody still in there then our instant reaction was just to get people out and so my first instinct was just I wasn't thinking I just just ran inside I think I just ran just ran and I followed Tony going in Tony had the torch in his hand he was going through the GH cran I was behind him the smoke was really thick and black you could literally grab it you it was so thick you could just grab it Tony kept on going to to the train I couldn't keep up with him I I couldn't breathe I just had to go to go out I open the double doors for the fire exit I could hear screams everywhere so I jumped over the tracks and bashed my way through the second set of doors and there were people just running around everywhere people were holding each other walking into walls cars were still moving in there I could hear the banging of cars banging up they was they were building up Bang Bang I grabbed four or five or six or seven I can't remember how many I said this way this way this [Music] way did you know where your friends were as you watched this they're slowly experiencing hell's Railway I've seen them go through the door I haven't seen them come out so all I know is that they're in there the heat was that's just it's like walking into a furnace [Music] and the sound of the fire as the fire was taking hold of everything it was like a fire in a in a windstorm it was just in every direction as soon as it hit something and just ignite her the mannequins the walls were igniting everything was just igniting so quickly I got one of those fire extinguishers it was like using a water pistol it had no effect whatsoever these Flames were too big I I I just gave up it was hopeless I couldn't do anything ran back inside back to the back section yeah sorry that was when I saw the father with his two sons and the four boys from wly college I couldn't get to them I tried tried to get to them and the father had his two sons so were huddled they were little little kids and they were huddled and he was holding him I said I'm coming I'm coming and the vision that's burned in my brain they were there they were right in front of me they should have got [Music] out sorry no one should have died in that [Music] everybody should have got out [Music] [Applause] everybody but there's too much smoke I [Music] choked I couldn't make sense of what was happening and thinking why did they get on there without cuz I would have been on there with them I had to go on that why was I left and as soon as I got out of the building There Was An Almighty bang crash is there something exploded you can hear things exploding and people mentioned explosions it was it was it was loud it was really really loud the cage part of the ghost train is on fire but it's not just on fire I saw [ __ ] Flames coming out of this cage that weren't normal Flames they weren't a normal fire they were shooting out as if they were being fan forced out of the cage like if you ever have a a grill top on a barbecue and you put some accelerant on it and shoots up but this was coming out it just didn't look [Music] nor this fire was something different this fire was just nuts out of control and quickly out of control and massive dwarfing us and all I can remember is these screams of Terror shrieks coming from inside the ghost there people still in there and these Flames were coming out it was something I'll never forget and that's when everything went bu and the whole place just went the the Flames it just blew up it was like an atomic bomb bang this dark cloud and it went all over us what chance did anyone have in there zero absolutely zero zero none all when it came crashing down I knew that that see those people were gone I started to spiral after viewing that Inferno I just started to cry wee myself at the start of the Meltdown I've just lost it and then the fire engin arrived I was a senior fight fighter stationed at Crow Nest we received the call far in Luna Park Milson Point Luna Park would be one of the worst fires I have ever attended I was only 20 years old Luna Park was my you my first sort of large [Music] Fire coming down the hill we could just see a column of red fire in the night near the near the water so when we arrived at the fire the intensity was you know it was sort of getting larger and larger uh it was ferocious and the heat of it like you couldn't get too close to it like it was the radiant heat it was too bad to go in we couldn't find out any information was there people inside what problems did you encounter well the the main problem was lack of water there was no water the water was just trickling out of the end of the hoses there was no water pressure whatsoever so we pumped water from the harbor next to me was the mother of the the the uh of the two little boys and husband were inside that's one thing I I'll never forget the look on her face you know watching you know her family sort of perish in front of her she was just blank despair you know I was in shock there's a small part of me that knew but I obviously couldn't want to feel that there was always that hope that they'd Escape somewhere she' was she'd kept coming back you know walking around obviously looking if they' escaped somewhere else she was then LED Away by police told to go out through the big gate and sit and I had to go out and sit on the steps outside as we're walking out with everyone else there was a lady who was just sitting on the ground sobbing on her own no one went there no no one we just all went by and to this day I realized who she was she was the the lady who lost her husband and and a kids that is something I regret that I never took the time to [Music] um see how she was and as as a a mother too it's heartbreaking that's when the ambulance came I don't remember anything after that for a long time don't have a break of [Music] course it's been an absolute night of tragedy here at the at the Luna Park in North Sydney and I sat with a woman most of the evening who cried was in tears for more than 3 hours police and Fir has told us absolutely nothing of what happened in here it's tragic it's always unbearable even to reporters do you remember getting home I remember being taken home by the Poli and I remember driving across the Harbor Bridge the next memory I have after that is the two police people knocking on my front door and that's when I lost it cuz that's when um that's when Mama answer the door mom opens the door looks at me and say what have you done in a really really scolding aggressive parental way what have you done I put my trust in you what the hell have you done she was cross with me and she was the first person I was going to see and when she was told what had gone on she'd grabbed me and wouldn't they call me that's what mothers [Music] do I was driving home and I turned the radio on and I I heard there had been a fire at Luna Park and I thought oh everything's okay with nothing ever happens to us it's it'll be okay and then I turned the corner and I saw the police cars and I thought oh my [Music] God if youve got children scho well I was just sitting at home and there was a knock at the door and it was a policeman and he said has your son come home yet and uh I said no he said do you know if any other boys have come home I says I don't know so we went M and myself went down to the buildings I just said go and lie down then being put into Jonathan's bed was pretty [Music] strange you lay in your friend's bed yeah lay in my friend's bed I drift off to sleep I guess we just heard that four ambulances have been dispatched to Luna Park following the reports of a fire turned on the radio at home you know and wife said turn it off I turn it off turn it off I can see the orange of flames that are leaping up through the center of that train turn it off so I turned it [Music] off I P my head around the corner cuz I've woken up to you said that man in front of the two bar heater listening to the radio and then him melting that's the only way can describe it the man started to [Music] melt that is what just stayed with me is Sydney Billings melting that's the image that is the most haunting actually he's watching that man and then the whing started he's whing Jonathan wasn't coming home he wasn't coming back and um so I drove straight in to L A Park of course you could imagine there was a the mess that was down there with police fire and the ghost train was just no longer there so it was just total Devastation complete Devastation just complete Devastation and you're viewing to think that my son was in that you [Music] know I can remember the parents all turning up those poor parents they knew nothing of what's happened to their family no information was furnished to them at all they were just there waiting waiting waiting and they were whimpering all night it was um you know not uh not very pleasant because at this particular stage I was working with the police scientific with the tagging process to try and like at any victims that would have been um burnt to death by the fire it was my first experience here uh seeing a body it was something that I'd never seen you know it was um yeah didn't look like a body at all they not what you call recognizable so the first person you discover was was the father the father and the two little boys [Music] and he was over one like he sort of protecting one trying to save them so he had them close to [Music] him we made our way further in and then well we just kept fing [Music] the head count just went up [Music] then four young boys that were around 12 or 13 years [Music] old then at that time the ambulance were going out with the bodies in it I just stood there and uh numb yeah I didn't know what was going on I was just numb I just you this is my fault you know I should not have I should have been there I shouldn't have made sure he didn't go and then I went back and told our family that the no way he could have survived and um her daughter Catherine just started [Music] screaming anyway the next day we went went down to our local church and Sheamus rill's father was there Patty he said oh Telly the boys will come home they're not nothing's happened it's all right they they'll turn up don't worry I thought oh no way I've seen them I've seen what happened the next hour was [Music] s aims of the Dead are being withheld until relatives have been notified police fire and Department of Labor and Industry officials were on the side sting through the ruins many questions surrounding the tragic fire still remain unanswered what did police tell you about what had caused this fire we w't told anything we weren't told anything that morning to police explain the cause no nothing no nothing like that at all would it surprise you if the police had determined exactly where that fire had started by by 3:00 that that next day it had surprise me because there's no way they would have they couldn't y I'd be very surprised did they an electrical fers believed to have started after an police now say the blaze was caused by an electrical fault has been blamed police said today an electrical fault in wiring caused last night's fire yeah it's that headline there yeah yeah yeah yeah here electrical fault suspected yeah yeah again you know Lun a park power power fault Theory yeah yeah yeah yeah Power fault Theory yeah yeah yeah they certainly got gone under the power for Theory a lot didn't they they certainly got under that yeah the officer in charge of the inquiry detective inspector Douglas Knight spoke to reporters Spector what about your investigations as to cause have you come to any conclusion there is very little doubt there appears little doubt that the fire is originated from a an electrical fault uh near the roof of the building we're now satisfied that the fire was as a result of an electrical fault within the building being a a firefighter for like almost 35 years um I don't know how they could have uh come to that conclusion so so quickly without a thorough investigation what are we thinking about the official line from police well I don't know something's wrong something is a drift like jeez what were you told what did you believe was the cause of the fire well I accepted what was told that it was an electrical fall why did you accept that theory I think it was because it came from the police yeah of course I believed it it's electrical fault the police said it what about parents the other parents what were they saying no nothing they were all in agreeance it was an electrical Vault so you left with that so what do you do you just got to accept it have to say well it's a bit sad but that's all we can do in the end of story yeah end of story they did say definitely that there is no fail play there was no deliberate setting fire to the to the uh ghost TR detective inspector Doug Knight of North Sydney police says there appears to be no suspicious circumstances surrounding the blaze you investigating that the fire might have been deliberately lit no we're not uh investigating that the fire has been deliberately lit it was covered up within hours of it happening a very crooked policeman called protective Knight was in charge of the investigation some witnesses had heard some you know had very strong reason to suspect that it had been set on fire as soon as Knight got on the scene that they were they stopped looking for the the suspects and and decided to blame it on an electrical fault they have so much power certain point to there are a few good policemen out there have to be it's a matter of finding the right ones I suppose and if one of them knows something he should come forward it's never too late I've never spoken publicly about my involvement in the Luna Park fire investigation [Music] I was one of the first detectives on the scene early in that morning there were suspicious circumstances as to how the fire started evidence that there was AR I told them the truth but enough never happened they all cleaned it all up trapped it under the M the Poli had already stitched it up justice hasn't been served so now 40 years later it's time for the [Music] truth [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: Australian Crime

Views: 64,937

Keywords: Australia, Australian Crime, Australian crime documentary, Australian crime series, Gangs & Mobs, Stalkers, child crime, cold case, con artists, crime, crime documentary, crime series, disappearances, family crime, ivan milat, murder, podcasts, police, renae marsden, revelle balmain, roger rogerson, serial killer, true crime, true crime documentary, true crime series

Id: exE3fDyh9V4

Length: 89min 23sec (5363 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 30 2024