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Here's What A Fully Stocked Mid-Century Fallout Shelter Under A San Fernando Valley Backyard Looks Like
John Rabe stands triumphant over the fallout shelter door.
(
Mae Ryan
/
KPCC
)
About this story
For 11 years and over almost 600 episodes, Off-Ramp explored Southern California on the radio at 89.3 KPCC. The show explored the people, places, and ideas that make up this "imperfect paradise" we call home. Now, every week on the Off-Ramp podcast, from LAist Studios, host John Rabe is dipping into the archives to bring these stories to a new audience.
One of our most popular stories, published on this date in 2013, started with a simple email from my friend Chris Murray:
"Hey, John, my sister and brother in law just bought a house in the Valley with an intact fallout shelter. Wanna see it?"
I think I was there with my microphone the next day.
Listen
11:24
Listen: Tour this pristine mid-century BOMB SHELTER!
Current events bring a quote from the end of the piece into sharper focus. Historian Charles Phoenix, giddy from seeing all the mid-century relics in the shelter, like pastel toilet paper, takes a breath and says,
We should take a moment to respect their fear, and be happy we don't live in a world where we're afraid we're going to get bombed every five minutes.
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Here's the original story published on March 7, 2013:
A few weeks ago, my friend Chris Murray wrote:
Chris and Colleen recently closed on a Charles DuBois Ranch House and the bomb shelter is an absolute time capsule: still stocked with old magazines, bunks, sleeping bags and medications. I told them to keep it in case of imminent Zombie Apocalypse. You're more than welcome to visit...
Selections from the popular radio show available weekly
He didn't need to ask twice. Chris and Colleen Otcasek immediately agreed to let Off-Ramp into their time capsule, or time machine, and didn't flinch when I showed up with shop lights, a 100-foot extension cord, historian Charles Phoenix, and KPCC photographer Mae Ryan. Chris and Colleen even made a relish tray and served Arnold Palmers.
It's really not a bomb shelter; it would never withstand a blast directed at the Valley's aerospace industry. It's a fallout shelter, designed to keep the radiation away for a few weeks.
This typography is delightful.
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Mae Ryan/KPCC
)
These 15 hot drink Dixie Cups sure are adorable.
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Mae Ryan/KPCC
)
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Science fiction and post-apocalyptic reading to keep the spirit strong.
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Mae Ryan/KPCC
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Argyle socks to keep you stylish down under.
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Mae Ryan/KPCC
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And inside we found a Kresge's worth of items: Kleenex, sanitary napkins, canned food, sleeping bags, magazines — which delighted Med, Charles, Chris, and I — and pills and a writing tablet hanging on the wall with a 30-year calendar.
That made Chris Otcasek, the most somber of the group, ask:
"What would you write on this? A suicide note? Anyone who built a shelter in their backyard would have to be pretty optimistic."
Chris had just coincidentally seen a "Twilight Zone" episode in which a Cold War backyard fallout shelter doesn't do anything but drive neighbors apart when they think they're under nuclear attack.
Unlike many homeowners, Chris and Colleen don't plan to fill in their shelter. They say they'll leave it as it is, undisturbed for the next owners.
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The fallout shelter has seen better days.
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Mae Ryan/KPCC
)
Anxiety medications and a host of other pills to keep residents relatively sane if they ended up in the fallout shelter.
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Mae Ryan/KPCC
)
The way out.
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Mae Ryan/KPCC
)
John Rabe goes where only a few men have gone before — a fallout shelter in the deep Valley.
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Mae Ryan/KPCC
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From left to right: Chris Otcasek, John Rabe and Charles Phoenix bonding in the fallout shelter.
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Mae Ryan/KPCC
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The fallout shelter can sleep four in case of world annihilation.
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Mae Ryan/KPCC
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Shelves stocked for the end of the world.
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Mae Ryan/KPCC
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The joys of fallout shelter cuisine.
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Mae Ryan/KPCC
)
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Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
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