Survival shelter sales boom

After recent terror attacks, more Americans may be going to the extreme to protect themselves.  The bunker industry says business is booming.

Fox 5 got a look inside one thanks to a survival bunker builder.  The space inside one is only about 8' by 11',  about as big as a prison cell, but big enough to keep its occupants alive.

They are buried about ten feet below the surface of the yard or garage floor.

Ron Hubbard owns Atlas Survival Shelters.  He says it is the last life insurance policy you'll ever need.

"The Atlas Survival Shelter is basically the last protection that you can buy in case of a nuclear, biological, or chemical attack," Hubbard says.

His California manufacturing yard is pumping out more of the corrugated pipe, blast proof, air-purified structures as paranoia over world events unfolds.

"Every time there is a terrorism attack the phone starts ringing and people start buying bunkers," Hubbard says.

The history of bunkers in the U-S dates back to the 50s and 60s when anxiety over nuclear war led to the creation of the Civil Defense Administration.

Perhaps nothing now incites fear like the prospect of terrorism.  A wave of attacks in 2015 dominated the political landscape.

"Gun sales are on the rise.  People preparing is on the rise.  It's a whole different world we live in now," Hubbard says.

It also means new business for Hubbard.  He has bunkers about the size of micro-apartments in New York City and sells them for $300,000.  Lately, he's advertising more of his latest product, an 80-square-foot model that costs $20,000.