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Mall Haven

Kevin Dotzler walks his llamas at the shopping center in El Cajon where his family opted to camp out rather than go to an official wildfire shelter. (By Peggy Peattie -- San Diego Union-tribune Via Associated Press)

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The tenderness of strangers in crisis even conquers the sullenness of teenagers.

"Hey! You're here!" one girl greets another, who holds a bright green lizard, another evacuee.

"Did your house like burn down?"

"No, did yours?"

"Nuh-uh."

Behind them, the mountains keep burning, the fire close enough to keep most of the businesses in the strip mall officially closed for shopping. The same was true for most of the week at the Escondido center where fire on surrounding hillsides prompted mall security to evacuate the evacuees three times, moving from JCPenney to Nordstrom to Sears in a single day.

Sheila Roberts clings to her asphalt island, feeling secure even in the midst of Armageddon, California-style. Her husband wonders what to make for dinner. A cookout, maybe? Wouldn't that be fun? Sheila quickly nixed the idea.

"We're not building a fire ring," she tells him.

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