Fire Makes Mess of Several Hundred Port-A-Potties in Alabama

August 29, 2007

Between 300 and 350 yellow rental port-a-potties in neat rows were melted, deformed and charred in a Theodore, Ala., fire, causing damage estimated at more than $200,000 at the Pot of Gold company, authorities said.

Joel Caraway, manager of Pot of Gold, said the business is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in connection with the blaze, reported at 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

"If it's a prank, it's a pretty morbid prank,'' Caraway told the Press-Register. "I would hate to think that anyone did this on purpose.''

James Shelly, chief of the Theodore and Tillman's Corner Volunteer Fire Department, said he notified the Alabama Department of Environmental Management in case any chemicals from the plastic seeped into the ground. But Caraway said the portable toilets had not been used and no chemicals had been loaded into the bowls.

Information from: Press-Register,
http://www.al.com/mobileregister