Pictured here is an existing wood-fired hot tub in the town, but Betsy has ambitious plans to install lots of above-ground swimming pools as a cheaper alternative to the costly 2,500-gallon water tanks used to defend against encroaching flames – she even jokes about renaming the town Poolga. She’s also encircled the site in metal fencing, taken down every dead tree and ensured that all of the structures in the settlement are bolted down. “I made sure that this place is not going to burn down… I’m not going to do it again, I can’t," she vows.

Pulga: from California ghost town to creative cabin retreat