The core of the Sandy company's business, the records stored in the vault, are watched by armed guards, closed-circuit TV monitoring systems and an electronic alarm system, according to Perpetual's Web site.

The company claims its vault can withstand fires, flooding and earthquakes and even, given its 12-pound stainless-steel door, a nuclear blast.

But on Tuesday, the University of Utah announced that 2.2 million billing records from University Hospital had been stolen from the vehicle of a Perpetual courier who failed to deliver the records to the vault as scheduled.

Perpetual Storage opened in 1968, after a year of blasting through rock to build the facility. The company caters primarily to businesses looking for off-site storage of their records for protection from natural disasters, employee sabotage or errors and temperature and humidity fluctuations.

Perpetual offers a 24-hour courier service to local clients who need to rapidly retrieve records. Out-of-the-area clients are offered next-day delivery by any available service. Perpetual emphasizes self-sufficiency: the facility generates its own water supply and has multiple sources of electrical power.

Telephone calls seeking comment Tuesday afternoon were not returned.