Woodstock '99
Report by Steven R. Rochlin

 

 

Some people were not just content with watching the fire. They wanted to celebrate inside it! Seen to the right are two young men rejoicing while standing on a piece of the 4' x 8' plywood on top of the fire which was part of the wooden wall that surrounded the Woodstock '99 festival. This photo was taken about midway into the riot. Eventually the fire seen here grew to about three times it's size.

 

 

Death defying leaps were made by some youths as they jumped over the fire itself! If you look carefully at the top center of this photo, you can see a rioter in mid jump over the fire itself. Fortunately he was not hurt and landed safely on the other side with just some burnt hair.

 

 

Continuing from our previous coverage of the speaker and light tower from yesterday's coverage, seen here are many of the rioters celebrating their feat of toppling over the tower. This is also proof of just how very sturdy this structure is as over two dozen individuals have a good time on it.

 

 

As another continuation from yesterday's update, here is another photo of the burning trailers. You can easily se the smoke pouring into the air. Not just from the trailers, but also from the field behind them. The rear right half of this photo shows the East stage which is approximately eight blocks away (rounded top structure).

 

 

Here is a close up of one of the burning trailers. As you can see, the legs which held the front part of it have collapsed due to stress. These were air conditioned trailers used to hold food or ice for vendors throughout Woodstock '99. On the left side of the trailer you can see where the extreme heat has taken its toll. Since i felt more detail was needed, seen below is a closer photograph of the severe damage.

 

 

This photo shows the severity of the damage caused by the fire-wielding rioters. The side of the trailer closest to us suffers from ruthless heat damage. You can easily see how the heat made the metal bend as well as the discolorations associated with such exposure. i want you to pay close attention to the rear of the trailer as the heat has literally burnt it away! If you carefully look on the ground below it you can see what is left of the wheels and supporting structure that make up trailers such as this. Even though the firemen did a great job at containing the fires, some of these trailer like this one still smoldered hours later. Are the ground were red embers still burning away.

 

 

Lastly, here is a side view of the Mercedes that was turned over and for the most part destroyed.

 

 

 

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