3 Tons Of Rotten Food Removed From House

A seven-man cleanup crew in face masks and long, green gloves carried 3.5 tons of rotten food out of Raymond Fowler’s house and yard Wednesday under a judge’s order.

A backhoe scooped refrigerators and other debris from the yard and into a dump truck as the workers carried partially opened boxes of chicken, seafood and other meat out of the house.

“The second you opened the door, (the odor) hit you like a wave,” said Pat McCarthy, community enrichment coordinator for the Butte-Silver Bow County Health Department.

Workers also removed debris and spoiled food from another house and vacant lot that Fowler owns on the same block.

Fowler was held in contempt of court Tuesday for repeatedly neglecting to clean up the properties. He helped Wednesday by carrying several boxes of rotten meat into the yard.

Fowler has said he solicits grocery stores for food they are ready to throw out, and that he gives it to the poor.

The food and junk was taken to the county landfill. McCarthy estimated it totaled 4.3 tons, including 3.5 tons of spoiled food.