Bountiful store offers chance to explore futuristic shelter


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BOUNTIFUL — Worried about natural disasters, nuclear war… zombies? Emergency Essentials is offering people a chance to explore an enormous, futuristic survival shelter.

People that drive by the store, located at 70 S. 500 West will see the bright yellow behemoth: It's a steel tube that comes equipped with four bunks, a leather couch, entertainment center, refrigerator, and full kitchen. Intended to be buried in a 20-foot trench, the bunker has plenty of storage space, an emergency escape hatch, and an air filtration system.

"You're perfectly safe," said Emergency Essentials store manager Dawn Kaufman. "It's 100 percent self-contained, so water, power — it's all here ready to go for you."

The shelter, built by California company Atlas, will be on display and available for exploration starting Friday as part of National Preparedness Month a.k.a. Preptember, an annual reminder of the importance of keeping 72-hour kits, extra food, water and other supplies on hand in case disaster strikes.

Once buried, entrance to the shelter is gained by climbing down a tunnel. A heavy, steel door, locked from the inside, keeps the space secure. Once inside, the shelter has an R.V. vibe.

Shelters such as the one on display at Emergency Essentials are fairly common in Midwest tornado areas and among members of survivalist groups and range in price between $35,000 and $85,000.

Kaufman said the shelters have other uses — of the non-apocalyptic variety.

"We have a lot of guys come in and say ‘This would be a great man cave! I need this for hunting,' " Kaufman said. "So yeah, it serves a lot of purposes."

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Keith McCord

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