California Couple Discovers Fully Stocked 1960s Fallout Shelter in Their Backyard

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Quigley_Sharps, Jun 8, 2013.


  1. Quigley_Sharps

    Quigley_Sharps The Badministrator Administrator Founding Member




    Buying a new home is an adventure. Everyone has a wish list of what they want the home to have, from an open floor plan to granite countertops and stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, and a master bathroom with two sinks and a walk-in closet. One California couple who recently purchased a new home, got something with their home that they never would have dreamed of.
    Colleen and Chris Otcasek were aware that their Woodland Hills property had an unusual feature, a 1960s fallout shelter. But the Otcaseks did not expect that it would be fully stocked, and a perfectly livable and sustainable space, 15 feet below ground in their backyard. They were expecting just a hole in the ground.
    Once they descended the rusted ladder into the bunker, the Otcaseks found the following and more: water, clothing, medicine, tin foil, canned food, books, paper products, a lot of coffee tins—and enough room for four people. In all, the Otcaseks estimate there was enough food and supplies to last a few weeks.
    The shelter was built in 1961 by Alvin Kaufman, a nuclear engineer, to protect his family from a possible nuclear war, according to his daughter, Debra. She also told Los Angeles CBS affiliate that her father offered to build similar fallout shelters for his neighbors, but they turned him down. Kaufman died in 2004
    In 2010, a family in Wisconsin made a similar discovery in their yard. They donated most of the items they had found to a historical society for curiosity seekers to get a glimpse of what life was like during the Cold War era.
    owlesitall and@YahooTrending.
     
    Quigley_Sharps, Jun 8, 2013
    #1
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  2. Quigley_Sharps

    Quigley_Sharps The Badministrator Administrator Founding Member

    Quigley_Sharps, Jun 8, 2013
    #2
  3. Mountainman

    Mountainman Großes Mitglied Site Supporter+++

    Funny how they mentioned tin foil as one of the items found. Must be for hats when you are down there, LOL.
     
    Mountainman, Jun 8, 2013
    #3
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  4. VisuTrac

    VisuTrac Ваша мать носит военные ботинки Site Supporter+++

    The first rule about having a bunker is to not talk about having a bunker.
     
    VisuTrac, Jun 8, 2013
    #4
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  5. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    Why would they want this to hit national news.....must be demorats.
    I would have just kept my mouth shut and had a big grin on my face. And then gone to work getting it modernized and cleaned up.... :cool:
     
    Yard Dart, Jun 8, 2013
    #5
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  6. -06

    -06 Monkey+++

    How does one defend such a hole? Once in there you are effectively trapped.
     
    -06, Jun 8, 2013
    #6
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  7. VisuTrac

    VisuTrac Ваша мать носит военные ботинки Site Supporter+++

    I'd have built an innocuous brush pile over it. Squirreled away some preps away from prying eyes. It's just a cache.

    Or
    build a block foundation for a greenhouse over it with a raised floor, install a trap door in the greenhouse to go subterranean, instead of a hinged door into bunker, I'd go with a lift/slide unit. It's just a hidey hole until the problem goes away.

    Or
    That is where you put the clacker that triggers your well placed charges that when you are over run:
    Take out the house,
    The garage,
    The propane tank,
    The stone pillars at the end of the driveway,
    the charges that rip through the tree lines,
    and maybe sever the main municipal gas, water and comm lines at the intersection about a quarter mile away.

    all while you are below grade.

    just guessing.
     
    VisuTrac, Jun 9, 2013
    #7
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  8. Illini Warrior

    Illini Warrior Illini Warrior

    you know what's going to happen .... being CA, some building inspector is going to stick their nose into the situation ..... the shelter will get condemned and those owners will be tabbed for thousand $$$$$ for filling in the hole .... just stupid piled on stupid
     
    Illini Warrior, Jun 9, 2013
    #8
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  9. -06

    -06 Monkey+++

    Patton said--"fixed fortifications are a tribute to the stupidity of man". Nothing wrong with a retreat but do not get cornered in one. Even mice know to have another hidden entrance. One reason the VC and Japanese were so deadly was their interlocking tunnels. Blow one and he would pop up yards away ready to hit you again.
     
    -06, Jun 10, 2013
    #9
  10. bfayer

    bfayer Keeper Of The Faith

    This was probably built as a fallout shelter, not a citadel of home defense.

    People back then were not thinking about defending themselves against hoards of mutant zombies, they were just trying not to become one :)

    This was the post WWII era, Communities were much stronger and people were much more reliant on one another. People felt if they could just get through the worst of the radiation, they and the others that survived would be there to rebuild.

    Sound naive by today's standards, but that was the mindset back then. People believed they could count on their neighbors and government to look out for them.
     
    bfayer, Jun 10, 2013
    #10
  11. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    I've seen a couple of shelters first hand. They all had heavy locking doors and locking bars. Those people feared being overwhelmed by others wanting their shelter or supplies.
     
    kellory, Jun 10, 2013
    #11
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