Grand Rapids Firefighters Called to Fish Porta-Potties from Grand River
Add this to the ever-growing list of weird things fished out of the Grand River: Lime scooters, artillery shells, an entire dumpster… and now, porta-potties.
On Tuesday, the Grand Rapids Fire Department responded to what had to be one of their crappier calls—two bright orange porta-johns were spotted floating near the Blue Bridge downtown.
Construction workers had already started the cleanup effort, and firefighters stepped in to assist and make sure no one got hurt.
READ MORE: Breaking Bad's Dean Dorris Loves His West Michigan Summers
Retired City of Grand Rapids firefighter Greg Wimple, who goes by gww09 on Instagram caught the stinky situation on video:
It looks like one of the potties they were able to push up the bank of the river, but for the other, a crane had to be called in.
👇BELOW: THESE ARE THE BEST LAKES FOR SWIMMING NEAR GRAND RAPIDS👇
Michael Spruit got footage and shared in on Tik Tok as well:
So how did the portable thrones end up adrift? According to WZZM 13, the portable toilets were stolen from a nearby construction site and tossed off the Pearl Street Bridge late Monday night. Yes—someone went out of their way to dump them into the Grand River.
Considering they’re not exactly light, this was a pretty committed act of mischief. That’s a lot of effort for a prank that really stinks.
UP NEXT: You Have to See This Viral Kalamazoo Dome Home Everyone is Talking About
Thankfully, no one was injured in the great porta-potty plunge of 2025, and crews were able to fish the johns out of the water without incident.
As for who’s behind the splashy stunt, police are reviewing surveillance video and hoping to flush out some answers soon. One can’t help but wonder how full the johns were at the time of the caper—because… ewwww.
Let’s just hope this doesn’t start a trend. We’re all for making waves downtown—but not with porta-potty regattas.
Discover Swimming Lakes Within 25 Minutes of Grand Rapids
Gallery Credit: Janna
More From 97.9 WGRD
