Now the "Marla" will be all over us again.
Actually the base is over seen by a pair of evil old brothers.
They use the town of Minkler and the meth-heads there as test subjects.
They are all pranoind anyway so who would believe them if they claim UFO's abducted them and aliens probed them.
Those small towns like Minkler make perfect test sites.

Some time in the early nineties I had a friend whose band practiced downtown. During one of their breaks we went exploring some of the old buildings. It was a lot more abandoned back then than it is now.

I am not sure now of the exact location, (I recall it being near the Wilson, though it may have been near one of the other neon-ed theatres or ballrooms- but remember that we accessed the building from the roof of an adjoining building, so it may have been the Security Bank building) but at one point while exploring-- climbing up back-of-the-building emergency/maintenance stairs--- we stumbled across an unlocked door to what appeared to be a maintenance room. It was full of signs with the triple-triangle fallout logos. There were other items stored there, such as candles, water storage containers (similar to gas cans), mylar-type blanket packages, and even MREs. All were marked with the fallout logo. We took some of the MRE's home and opened some of them there. I don't recall exactly what was in those packs, other than that they had those 'space-age' protein sticks and 'Tang'-type beverage mixes that became popular for a short while after the moon landing. There were also various informational pamphlets/instructions pertaining to fallout protocol.

I'm guessing that it must have been used as a storage locker for fallout supplies. Soon after that, the access we had to those buildings was blocked, probably due to the number of problems that had been caused by a large number of squatters/homeless people moving in, and thieves who'd been stripping copper wiring/lighting fixtures/marble tiles and pretty much anything they could pry loose out of those buildings.

This is the first time I've heard about anyone else having come across any of the downtown fallout stuff. Sadly, I misplaced the items I'd saved during my move.

i heard that the base was actually a laboratory to find ways to use airborne MRSA superbugs on the people of fresno.

Atleast on most documents and official plans.
Most City Offices won't even discuss the communication towers behind the Save Marts.
Note they were built way before cell phone technology.
Most Save Mart employees have heard about the base.
Crazy old timers always come in and ask them what they know.
It's an ongoing joke there.
Especialy when soliders are seen shopping in the store.
One old guy use to always try to sneak in the back of the store claiming he was looking for it.
Be careful though some people looking for it have been visited by the MIB.
LOL

the huge air vents are for the multiple levels of underground parking for the courthouse, club one, credit union, and hotel.

But is there a tunnel connecting the Jail to the Courthouse?

There are some old turn of the century steam heating tunnels under Fresno Street and the Fulton Mall, that's what some Fresno History books have said.

Underground base? I've never heard that one before. I'm curious, does the government work on captured alien technology there?

Its behind Royce Hall infront of the gym.
Its covered by a hill
Some of the Tower nuts claim its connected to the military base.
My reaserch into Fresno history shows no underground base connections to Fresno High
Just a big fall out shelter.
I would like to seriously chat with people with real information on the base.
It is an interesting part of Fresno History.
Yet it can't be verified or documented as being real.
Also it's locatiojn floats around.

Its under Courthouse Park and runs under most of the Fulton Mall.
Why do you think there are the huge air vents?
A huge section of it is at Cedar and Ashlan under the shopping center.
A communications antenna is behind Save Mart.
They also have a communication section under the shopping center at Cedar and Herndon.

some time after 2005 the sign that pointed right at the entrance to the shelter was removed. If you look at the flickr Fresno famous photo pool, you see a photo of the entrance to the shelter, it was pointing to a door at the old House of Furniture, that is behind the stadium on home run alley. I think it lasted for many years since the 1950s when it was put in but once the baseball games started bring people back to the Fulton mall area, more people noticed the sign and it was removed.

besides the fall out shelter signs, there can be found some Civil Defense warning sirens, the two I've seen are located at Maroa & Dakota and West and Ashlan.

for more CD history see:
civildefensemuseum.com

We don't have a active Civil Defense for Nuclear fallout any more, but San Lius Obisbo does have a current plan for evacuation in case of a accident at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.

SLO County Nuclear Accident Evacuation Map Planning Zones

The most important issue with Nuclear fall out is to not breath the air due to possible radioactive dusts, that you do not want inside your body. After watching a old Civil Defense film about fallout shelters, it seems that it would take over 2 weeks before it would be safe to come out since that would be close to the half life of simple radioactive dusts, that come from 100's of miles away. If there were major radio active contamination hopefully there will be Federal Experts to help.
Here is a interesting story on a small thimble of radioactive contamination that killed several Brazilian people in 1987. Known as the Goiânia Radiation Incident.

on another related topic:
Fresno as a Ghost Town - the dangers of a Nuclear Power Plant in your back yard

too bad for the California Coastal towns, they really should consider and embrace Wave Power Generation.
wavegen.co.uk

Fresno needs to use Solar and Biomass not nuclear.
And if more dams are build to destroy the salmon runs then maybe Hydro power, are there any fish ladders on any of the local Dams in the foothills and mountains?

Thanks for sharing... Very interesting. Too bad they(it?) are (is) gone!

By the time I went to work for Security National Bank in 1985 all that was left were the signs. Another employee and I looked around the basement several times during record searches and whatnot and there were no emergency supplies (food and water for 2 to 4 months?) just a metal box with old photos we gave to the historical society. Maybe it is in the parking garage area. who knows?