Robin Abcarian: Life under California's massive blanket of smoke

LUCERNE, Calif. - In an otherwise deserted part of Clearlake Oaks, which was under a mandatory evacuation order, Nicole Young sat on the porch of a triple-wide lakefront mobile home with a couple of other holdouts.

A sweet smell wafted outside from the home. Young, 44, was baking a yellow cake.

Its welcome scent competed with the smell of smoke, which has enveloped this little lakeside community for the past week, as the largest wildfire in state history - actually separate side-by-side blazes that have been dubbed the Mendocino Complex - rages on.

Inside, Jim Young, 80, who owns this mobile home and RV park, sat in an easy chair, watching "The Andy Griffith Show" in black and white. His wife, Barbara, 87,