Poland has 85,739 protective structures on record: the “Gdzie się ukryć” app shows where to shelter

The State Fire Service (Państwowa Straż Pożarna) has published updated data from its inventory of protective structures: in September 2026 the database held 85,739 sites. The count was carried out by firefighters on the instructions of the Interior Ministry, who checked tens of thousands of buildings belonging to state and local institutions, cooperatives, housing associations and community organisations. Experts point out that the vast majority are places of temporary shelter, not sealed professional bunkers.

For residents there is a mobile app and website, “Gdzie się ukryć” (“Where to hide”): they show the registered sites within a radius of up to 50 km, their category, capacity and the exact coordinates of the entrance. Data for your region can be saved to your phone in advance, as the app works without a mobile network or internet; the services advise studying the map in calm times.

For comparison, Sweden has more than 60,000 certified shelters for 7 million people, or 85% of the population; in peacetime they are car parks, gyms and warehouses that owners must make ready within 48 hours. In Switzerland, a place in a sealed shelter is guaranteed to every resident.