PHILLIP GOMEZ / PVT The reconstructed scene of an exploded portable toilet last week. The blast occurred at a Rodeo Avenue construction site near the new Boys and Girls Club behind Pahrump Valley High School. Pahrump Sanitation owner Phil Hibdon, rear, doesn't think it's a bit funny. Advertisement

A homemade bomb blasted a Satellite-brand toilet closet -- a Porta-Potty-type outdoor toilet -- nearly into orbit at a construction site in central Pahrump last week, and the Nye County Sheriff's Office hasn't yet found out who did it.

Phil Hibdon, owner of Pahrump Sanitation on David Street, rents the portable toilets to general contractors building homes and commercial buildings in Pahrump.

A customer who is having a house built at Rodeo Avenue and Domingo Street, just four blocks from the new Boys and Girls Club in Pahrump, had a Satellite unit sitting on his lot.

But the Satellite blasted off Aug. 17 at around 9 p.m.

Hibdon said he got a call from a Nye County Sheriff's Office dispatcher, informing him the toilet had been set afire and had burned down. Pahrump Fire-Rescue responded to a call placed by neighbors at 9:15 p.m.

"It exploded the walls off it," said Hibdon. "These things are strong -- the units cost $800. They're guaranteed to last 10 years."

A woman who lives down the street and was outside at the time of the explosion witnessed a group of juveniles in a small white car at the construction site prior to the bomb going off, Hibdon said. The youths then retreated to the other side of the roadway to watch the explosion, which was extremely loud, according to the eyewitness and other neighbors indoors at the time.

"I wouldn't want this to happen too often," said Hibdon, who said he won't report the loss to his insurance carrier, since it would result in an increase in his premium rate. "I'll be eating this," he said of the loss.

"I'd hate to see a kid go to jail over blowing up a Porta Potty," said Hibdon. "It's a felony offense. If these kids get caught, you're talking jail time for something this stupid. I did a lot of stupid things when I was a kid, but I never went around and tore up people's things."

Hibdon and his wife Lynn have owned and operated Pahrump Sanitation since 1996, but the business has been in Pahrump since 1984. Phil Hibdon said he has approximately 75 to 100 Satellite units that he rents to contractors.

Portable toilets are required furnishings by county ordinance at construction sites across the country, according to Rick Walker, owner of Bulldog Construction, a builder of custom homes and rentals.

Hibdon said he filed a complaint with the Nye County Sheriff's Office and is offering an incentive to identify those who blew up his toilet.

"I'd be glad to offer a reward of $500 for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible," Hibdon said.

Referring to the Porta-Potty pyrotechnics, Hibdon added, "Whatever they're putting in there, it's big time."