AUGUSTA -- Firefighters had to rush to the bathroom in the wee hours Sunday morning. But they were not tending to personal business.

A flaming port-a-potty someone allegedly lit on fire on Front Street warranted a fire department response.

"They don't usually spontaneously combust," Augusta Battalion Chief Al Nelson said of the portable thrones.

Firefighters first received word of the flaming outhouse at 1:47 a.m. The blaze -- but maybe not the odor -- was under control within approximately 10 minutes, according to police records.

Except for the likely scarred nostrils, it appears no one was injured as a result of the fire.

Nelson said an investigation is pending, but is unlikely to turn up a culprit.

"The odds of finding someone are probably pretty slim," he said.