13 Exploding Porta Pots Leave Billings Family Business With a $13,000 Holiday Hangover

The booms rattled windows across Billings over the Fourth of July weekend, the kind of noise most people expect every Independence Day. But in neighborhoods and construction sites around the city, some of those fireworks were being used to destroy portable toilets, leaving behind thousands of dollars in damage for one local business.

A Seven-Year Record: Urapeein Porta Pots Faces Unprecedented Holiday Damage

Kris Vogele’s family started Urapeein Porta Pots in 2018 with 40 portable toilets, he told Cowboy State Daily. The business has grown significantly since then, but so has the cost of fireworks-related vandalism. This year, at least 13 portable toilets were destroyed across Billings, the most in the seven years he has operated the business with his family, Vogele told KTVQ. He said the problem began in 2019, peaked in 2023, and this year's damage surpassed those previous losses.

"The losses are expected now," Vogele told KTVQ.

Exploding Tanks and Melted Plastic: How the Vandals Destroyed the Stalls

Some portable toilets were blown apart by fireworks. Others were left as melted blocks of plastic after firework fountains burned inside the stalls, Vogele told Cowboy State Daily. Most of the vandalism happens at active construction sites where there are few, if any, witnesses, he told KTVQ, making it extremely difficult to identify the people responsible.

Why Costly Security Trail Cameras Are Not a Practical Solution for the Business

With about 400 portable toilets spread across Billings, Vogele told Cowboy State Daily that placing a trail camera at every location would cost roughly $60,000 for a single holiday weekend. For a small business, he said, that simply is not realistic.

"It's a helpless feeling," Vogele told KTVQ. "It really is."

Urapeein Porta Pots via Facebook

Flying Firework Shrapnel: The Holiday Damage Extended Beyond Portable Toilets

The holiday weekend also left some residents dealing with property damage. Park City resident Sarah Lees told KTVQ she was watching her neighbor's annual fireworks display when something struck her five-day-old vehicle. Her brother-in-law, who was sitting nearby, also saw it happen. A piece of fireworks debris cracked her windshield.

READ MORE: Billings PD: 185 Traffic Stops, 4 DUI Arrests Over 4th of July Weekend

Lees said she understood accidents can happen and noted her neighbors had safely put on fireworks displays for years. What frustrated her most was hearing about the intentional vandalism happening elsewhere.

"The thing I find most frustrating is the vandalism side of things," Lees told KTVQ.

High Deductibles and Rising Rates: Why Commercial Insurance Offers Little Relief

Vogele told Cowboy State Daily that each destroyed portable toilet costs about $900 to replace, plus another $250 to ship to Billings. With a $1,000 deductible for each separate incident, he said, filing insurance claims often provides very little financial benefit. The company estimates this year's losses have climbed well into five figures.

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Diverted Donations: How the Entire Billings Community Feels the Financial Impact

Those costs also affect the organizations Vogele tries to support. He told KTVQ he regularly donates portable toilets to youth sporting events and community gatherings, including ZooMontana's holiday lights display.

"It's really sad, because I think that they really aren't thinking about destroying someone's property," Vogele told KTVQ. "It is 100% done to be destructive."

He also told Cowboy State Daily that the financial impact reaches beyond his business.

"This is a big expense for us," Vogele said. "It hurts us, and it hurts our community, because it limits what we can give to the community."