Are There Really Just Four Nuclear Fallout Shelters in Montana?

Watching the news unfold over the weekend regarding the US airstrike in Iran, followed by chatter on TV and social media alluding to an impending "World War III", raised questions and concerns among my children.

My youngest kids are 13 and 9, making them far too young to recall the most recent times we were heavily involved in the Persian Gulf. My teen wondered if we're going to get nuked, prompting the 9-year-old to have a mild freakout.

Read More: The Dark History of Montana’s Free Speech Ban During WWI

I assured them this was highly unlikely.

Despite Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming being home to most of the United States' intercontinental missiles, we probably aren't high on the target list. Any attacks on US soil would likely be directed towards high-population areas for maximum impact.

That said, our conversation made me wonder how many nuclear fallout shelters remain in Montana. I remember doing nuclear bomb drills as a youngster, crouching under a desk in the basement of my elementary school in the early 80s.

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Going back to the Cold War era, every community seemed to have designated fallout shelters, typically in the basement of public buildings, often with signs posted on sidewalks or streets noting their entrance. Over time, as Civil Defense funding and Russian paranoia both petered out, many of these shelters have been decommissioned or repurposed.

Montana appears to have just four nuclear fallout shelters.

I spent nearly an hour poking around the internet to see how many nuclear fallout shelters are in Montana, and I was surprised to find out there appears to be just four, based on Civil Defense maps. The most reliable source I could locate was TruePrepper.com, which features a map of shelters in each state.

Montana has fallout shelters in the following locations:

• Sentenial High School in Missoula
• Hellgate High School in Missoula
• The post office in Harrison, MT
• The Deer Lodge County Jail

Private fallout shelters are another story.

Reportedly, the Church Universal Triumphant in Paradise Valley had/has significant underground shelter facilities. Perhaps this 2021 real estate listing for an underground compound in Montana was once part of it? And this circa 2010 website regarding nuclear fallout lists a few other possible private bunkers dotted around the state.