An Exploding Toilet Breaks the Monotony of a Point Pleasant Afternoon

First, the news: a lot on Point Pleasant Drive in Palm Coast, as you approach Royal Palm Parkway, was just cleared of trees: yes, Virginia, they may be about to build a house there. These days in this city, that warrants a little celebration.

Maybe that’s what the firecracker was all about.

At about 3:15 this afternoon, the neighbor next to the lot heard a loud explosion. Looking outside, he saw smoke spewing out of the port-a-potty sitting at the edge of the lot, right next to his property. Smoke filled the air. It didn’t have a particular odor. But it was thick.

The explosive toilet was worrisome, even though the structure itself looked undamaged, and the neighbor was as calm as the breeze. He called 911. A Palm Coast Fire Department truck arrived. They investigated, meaning a fireman cautiously, and with a slight aversion of the head, opened the door to the wobbly potty while two colleagues stood back, one of them ever so discreetly covering his nose. There was paper all over the place, and perhaps a few debris of detail that needn’t be explained.

It looked like a firecracker had been thrown in there, one of the firemen said. He’d seen it done elsewhere. The neighbor waved it off. He’d seen two young men or boys on bicycles go by just before the explosion. Maybe they were having a little fun. Maybe it’s the new trend, a ritual commemoration of returning construction. The lot itself, busy with a few workers earlier today, was empty. No one was injured. No need to call the Department of Homeland Security, though a cop joined the scene soon enough to do his own investigation.

The incident, so-called, may yet be immortalized in a police report.