Quirky characters bounded onto the stage in front of an auditorium full of students.

After significant rain and snow in California this year, there are concerns that when the lush green vegetation and beautiful flowers across mountains and along hillsides dry out, the region could become a tinderbox.

At about noon on Aug. 26, 1996, the Marple Fire started between Interstate 5 and Castaic Lake in northwestern Los Angeles County. By midnight, it had spread to 10,000 acres, and by the time it was contained, nearly 20,000 acres had burned.