Eight heroic young rugby players ripped down a fence with their bare hands to allow people to escape from an explosion as buildings collapsed around them. The actions of the players, who were at a gym for a training session when the explosion happened, may have saved many lives.
The Rhydyfelin RFC players were left with lacerations to their hands after they repeatedly had to go back to the fence to make the gap wider as they helped people to safety while the fire was quickly spreading towards them.
All eight – Kieron Phillips, Rhys Phillips, Lloyd Riley, Kian Harris, Luke Studley, Dylan John, Liam Williams and James Norman – have now been honoured for the bravery they showed on the night of the fire. They recounted the incident that occurred last December when a huge fire broke out at Rizla House on Treforest Industrial Estate in Rhondda Cynon Taf.
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At the time of the fire, a major incident was declared by the emergency services, with the two-storey building described as “totally alight” and “at risk of collapse” by South Wales Fire and Rescue Service. Tragically, 40-year-old Danielle Evans, who owned laboratory business Celtic Food Labs, died in the incident.
The fire also affected Mindset Functional Fitness where the eight players were attending their usual Thursday evening winter training session when, shortly before 7pm, there was a huge explosion in the adjacent building, with devastating consequences.
The roof was lifted off, floors and walls collapsed, the main stairwell was destroyed, limiting access to traditional emergency exit routes. The ferociousness of the blast was felt by gym members, throwing them to the ground and causing significant disorientation.
Rhys Phillips, 28, from Rhydyfelin, who plays openside flanker for the team explained to WalesOnline: “It just went bang and hit us to the floor. The ceiling started to crumble and I was laying on the floor for about 5-10 seconds in confusion. Then it was just frantic to be honest, people were running everywhere.”
All of the players except Rhys had been in the gym waiting area when the explosion happened, having arrived early for their training session. Rhys, who has been playing for Rhydyfelin alongside his brother Kieron Phillips ever since he was six, was in the boxing studio and in a panic, immediately tried to find his older brother and the rest of the players.
Amidst the confusion, Joe Popple and Lois Masters who worked at the gym began sweeping the gym to try and help people to safety. For their actions, they also received a bravery award from South Wales Police. For the latest Rhondda news, sign up to our newsletter here
As the pair reached the bottom of the stairwell, they were met by the Rhydyfelin rugby players and escaped into the car park. However, they were far from safety and were met with a scene that could have been from a disaster film.
“We were stuck between the gym and the power station with fire coming towards us. There were bangs and explosions,” explained 20-year-old plumber Lloyd Riley who added that he initially tried to drive his car out of the car park and away from the fire. However, the side of the building was collapsing and the road to get out was covered in bricks and debris.
Rhys, who owns his own plumbing business in the area, added: “The emergency services were saying that they would reach us when they could but at the time, they couldn’t tackle the fire because it was spreading too quickly.”
The players, alongside around 50 people who were also in the gym at the time of the explosion, were trapped with a raging fire and plumes of smoke coming towards them with nowhere else to go. “We were a bit like sitting ducks,” explained 36-year-old Kieron, who is head coach of the valleys’ club.
Lloyd added: “Everyone was panicking, crying. The only option really was to get that fence down. The fire was coming towards us, we couldn’t get our cars out. As a group of boys we just thought let’s just get this fence down.”
Together, the eight players prised open a gap in the sharp fence with their bare hands, leaving them with lacerations but that didn’t stop them returning to the fence multiple times to make the gap wider and hold it open, to ensure every person could get out.
“The fire was just spreading to the nearby buildings so once we were through the fence we just ran. Luckily, when we got to the gate near the front the fire brigade were there,” said Lloyd, who we later were told, by pal Kieron, came up with the idea to pull the fence apart to help everyone escape.
“If we didn’t pull that off, we don’t really know what would have happened,” Network Rail employee Kieron said.
While the players and other people in the gym managed to escape, it was close to being very different. Just 30 seconds before the explosion, one of the players, Luke Studley, was on the staircase that was completely destroyed in the blast.
Unbeknown to all those trapped in the car park on the night of the fire, minutes after they had managed to escape the building, the floor of the gym also collapsed. The team are therefore left with a lot of scars about that night and thoughts about what could have happened if they hadn’t escaped when they did.
“I know a few of the boys have struggled. It does mess with your head,” Rhys said.
Months after the incident, Rhydyfelin RFC were contacted by South Wales Police and invited to their annual awards ceremony at the Rhondda Heritage Park. At the ceremony, the eight players were recognised for the “exceptional bravery, professionalism, resilience and teamwork” they displayed on the night of the fire.
The trio we spoke to were very modest about their award and were quick to downplay their heroic actions: “None of us expected it, we just did what we thought was best on the night,” Lloyd said. While Kieron was also surprised to hear that they would be getting awards, he described it as a “big privilege”.
Rhydyfelin chairman, Dillan Phillips, who is also Kieron and Rhys’ father, added how proud the club and local community are of the group, he said: “We’re ever so proud of every one of them. The way they reacted, and a lot of them are really young boys, was incredible. They didn’t hesitate and worked together as a team to help others.”
Dillan also said that the reaction from the community and people the players’ helped that night has been “overwhelming”. A father of a young girl who was at the gym that night visited the club shortly after the fire to leave some money behind the bar for the team to have a drink as a thank you for everything they did.
“These boys don’t dote on [what they did] either, they try to forget it sometimes, but it was nice to go to friends and family to the awards and you could see the delight and joy on their partner’s faces. They didn’t realise what they had done,” said proud dad and chairman, Dillan. “They’ll never forget that night.”
