All you ever wanted to know about sh*t burning but were afraid to ask...

Back in the last great war (i.e. Viet Nam) we in the Army did our own porta-potties. We didn't have Halliburton's help in those days. We called these porta-potties "shitters" and they worked pretty well at low cost to the military: First we cut an empty fifty gallon drum in half making enough containment facilities for two shitters. Then we built a couple of shanty outhouses with flaps in back and slid our containment facilities in the back door. The newest of the new guys were then tagged as slave labour for "shit burning" detail.

Shit burning detail was quite a ritual in its own right. We dragged the smelly containment facilities into the light of day, doused them with diesel and set the chocolate-fudgey diesel mix ablaze. Smoke and noxious vapors emanated for hours. Finally the facilities were ready for reuse and returned to the darkness where they belonged.

The main rule was (because the Army always like to keep things simple) never, but never, pour gasoline on your smoking diesel to hurry up the process. The penalty for abusing this rule was a quick ride on a medevac chopper.

And now you know how we handled shit in the old days.