Photos: Tucson's fallout shelters
Fallout shelters in Tucson.
Tucson fallout shelters
Susanne Kaplan, stands in the bomb shelter beneath her foothills Tucson home Friday August 20, 2004. Her Catalina Foothills home, which was built in 1949. The shelter was added in 1961. Photo by Aaron J. Latham/Arizona Daily Star.
Tucson fallout shelters
29 BOMBS SHELTER AJL-P6 Frank Chacon,(FRANK CHACON) stands in the bomb shelter beneath his Tucson, Ariz. home Friday July 30, 2004. He and his family have turned the disaster shelter into a guest beadroom and have even wired it for cable. MAGS OUT/NO SALES/MANDATORY CREDIT. Photo by Aaron J. Latham/Arizona Daily Star. Neg.# 110031. AUGUST 29, 2004 H2 Aaron J. Latham / Arizona Daily Star - Frank Chacon in the bomb shelter at his Tucson home. He and his family turned it into a guest room, complete with cable television.
Tucson fallout shelters
Homeowner John Sims enters an old bomb shelter he discovered in his back yard which was possibly built to withstand a nuclear holocaust. At this time his plans are somewhat nebulous but it is a possibility that he will try make some recreational use for the circular room. The photo was taken in Tucson, Ariz., on Monday, Dec. 7, 2015. A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star
Tucson fallout shelters
Once underground, John Sims shines his flashlight around the circular room that was an old bomb shelter he discovered in his back yard. The archway is the entrance that leads to a spiral staircase. It is likely the domed shelter was possibly built to withstand a nuclear holocaust. At this time his plans are somewhat nebulous but it is a possibility that he will try make some recreational use for the circular room. The photo was taken in Tucson, Ariz., on Monday, Dec. 7, 2015. A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star
Tucson fallout shelters
While underground, John Sims looks back and pauses as he flashes his light into the narrow entryway of an old bomb shelter before returning to the surface. He discovered it in his back yard which was possibly built to withstand a nuclear holocaust. At this time his plans are somewhat nebulous but it is a possibility that he will try make some recreational use for the circular room. The photo was taken in Tucson, Ariz., on Monday, Dec. 7, 2015. A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star
Tucson fallout shelters
Homeowner John Sims ascends the spiral staircase to the surface. He discovered an old bomb shelter in his backyard which was possibly built to withstand a nuclear holocaust. At this time his plans are somewhat nebulous but it is a possibility that he will try make some recreational use for the circular room. The photo was taken in Tucson, Ariz., on Monday, Dec. 7, 2015. A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star
Tucson fallout shelters
Homeowner John Sims stands over some of the items excavated from an old bomb shelter he discovered in his back yard which was possibly built to withstand a nuclear holocaust. At this time his plans are somewhat nebulous but it is a possibility that he will try make some recreational use for the circular room. The photo was taken in Tucson, Ariz., on Monday, Dec. 7, 2015. A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star
Tucson fallout shelters
A newly attached air vent connects to the top of the dome of a bomb shelter several feet below ground while the entryway is in the background. Homeowner John Sims discovered the shelter in his back yard which was possibly built to withstand a nuclear holocaust. At this time his plans are somewhat nebulous but it is a possibility that he will try make some recreational use for the circular room. The photo was taken in Tucson, Ariz., on Monday, Dec. 7, 2015. A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star
Tucson fallout shelters
Civil Defense map of Tucson, ca. late 1960s. Shows locations of Fallout Shelters. Tucson Citizen
Tucson fallout shelters
Dr. and Mrs. A. Russell Aanes check their civil defense rations as they start a two-week stay in an above-ground fallout shelter at KGUN-TV studios in October, 1961. The couple said they were "looking forward to catching up on long-delayed reading, napping and being away from the telephone." The TV station had a remote camera and would periodically monitor the couple inside.
Tucson fallout shelters
John Stufflebean and family in their fallout shelter in Tucson in April, 1961.
Tucson fallout shelters
A fallout shelter under construction behind a home in Tucson, ca. 1961.
Tucson fallout shelters
John Stufflebean appears at the door of the family's fallout shelter on Kilmer Street in Tucson in November, 1978. Photo by Manuel Miera / Tucson Citizen
Tucson fallout shelter
Dr. and Mrs. A. Russell Aanes check their civil defense rations as they start a two-week stay in an above-ground fallout shelter at KGUN-TV studios in October, 1961. The couple said they were "looking forward to catching up on long-delayed reading, napping and being away from the telephone." The TV station had a remote camera and would periodically monitor the couple inside.
New nuclear threat rekindles memories of Tucson as Cold War targetFor Star subscribers: The Cold War is long over, but Tucson is still a nuclear target, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine is stoking fresh fears of an all-out nuclear conflict. A new analysis imagines just how we might be hit if the unthinkable happened.
The infamous Titan II nuclear-tipped missiles ringing Tucson and pointed at the USSR for nearly 20 years beginning in the early 1960s. The har…
The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer: