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Dirty diapers piling up at Portland diaper service company after fire

A fire inside the boiler has caused the company to close indefinitely until a new one can be installed.

PORTLAND, Ore. — There's a stinky situation happening at Tidee Didee on Southeast Foster Road and 92nd Ave in Portland.

Tidee Didee is a diaper service company. Started in the 1970s, they deliver clean cloth diapers, pick up the dirty ones, and wash and sanitize them.

A representative for the company says they serve about 500 clients, as well as Portland Montessori schools and preschools in the metro area.

The company is used to having dirty diapers at their facility, but not like this.

Thousands of dirty diapers will take over the floors of the facility's storage room until a new boiler can be installed. Thursday, during a routine maintenance call, the company says a mechanic caused the fire. 

Credit: Tidee Didee staff

"He was kinda messing around with it and it all kinda went up in flames after that. It was all very spontaneous," said office manager Ashley Farra.

A boiler heats up the water for the washing machines so the diapers can be sanitized. During the shutdown, washing machines sit full of half-clean diapers and there are the multiple bins of dirty ones.

Drivers sent out to pick up the soiled diapers brought them back to the facility for storage. Bags upon bags of dirty diapers will sit. Farra says if they sit too long, they will need to be thrown out.

"Once it gets soiled and stays for so long it just has to be thrown away. So we're looking at an almost entirety of our cloth diapering just being tossed in the garbage since we have no way to wash them. It's really affecting us in several different ways, we're losing a lot of product."

Ten employees have been laid off until the company can get back up and running.

"They've gotta worry to make ends meet now," Farra said

On the company's website, a statement says all prepaid customers will be refunded until service is restored.

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