Man Buries 42 Buses to Build Nuclear Shelter in Canada
A man in Canada has gone to great lengths to protect himself and up to 500 others from catastrophe.
Bruce Beach, 83, an American transplant to the Ontario hamlet of Horning’s Mills, has buried 42 buses to create a nuclear fallout shelter.
On a 12.5-acre lot about 90 miles northwest of Toronto, not far from the home he shares with wife Jean, a former teacher from Winfield, Kansas, Beach constructed the bunker he calls Ark Two.
It was during the height of the Kennedy-era Cold War that Beach decided to heed the president’s warnings to begin collecting canned goods and create bunkers to protect people from a possible nuclear attack.
After moving to Ontario in 1970, Beach began construction on his bunker in 1980.
Ark Two is constructed from the 42 buses he purchased for $300 each. The buried buses are covered in concrete and topped with several feet of soil, according to Beach’s website.
The bunker features a medical facility, decontamination room, mortuary, chapel, exercise area, library, laundry room, daycare, pharmacy and even a dental clinic.
Beach notes that once the structure was completed in 1985, he became known as the local “doomsayer.”
“I am not a doomsayer because I am very optimistic about the future,” Beach counters on his website.
Beach concedes that the majority of people, including local and provincial government, consider his actions a little on the crazy side.
“People think, ‘What a nut,’ and I know that, but I don’t mind,” he told the National Post. “I understand the world looks upon me that way.”
He encountered quite a bit of pushback from the local government while trying to get his project launched. After years of trying to acquire the proper building permits, Beach became frustrated and went ahead and built the structure anyway. That led to numerous court appearances and thousands of dollars in legal fees, Beach notes.
Local authorities have threatened repeatedly since 2000 to seal off the underground passageways over safety concerns. Twice they did seal the entrance to the bunker but Beach continues to reopen the entrance.
“Their basis for sealing it is they say it was found to be a hazard. It is a threat to life, etc., etc.” Beach told the Orangeville Banner. “But as I say, it is the very opposite. The idea is not to create risk, but reduce risk.”
The nearby Shelburne Fire Department says it will not rescue anyone inside should the need arise.
“It is a life safety situation,” Tom Egan, chair of the Shelburne Fire Board, told the Banner. “We aren’t going to risk the life of one of our firefighters. … It is just not safe.”
Beach continues his work despite pushback and condescension, believing his project is a mission for the greater good.
“I have often been asked, ‘why not get a life, enjoy life and quit worrying about doomsday?’ The answer is that I don’t see the purpose of life, nor happiness in life measured in how many rounds of golf I might play, but rather, in service to my fellow man,” Beach says.