RAPID CITY, S.D. (KELO) — Despite the rain in the forecast for the next week, the fire danger is rising across KELOLAND. For Wildfire Awareness Month, firefighters in Rapid City are reminding people to be cautious this summer.

In order to respond to wildfires quickly and efficiently, it takes firefighters a lot of training.

“Even though we’ve got some green grass, things are ready to burn and we need to be ready to respond especially in Rapid City with the urban interface component so it’s a great time of year to get out and practice those and the indications are that we could have an average season but that doesn’t matter to us, we need to be ready no matter what,” Jim Bussel, Firefighter/Paramedic, said.

Each month, the Rapid City Fire Department does a hands-on training. And this week for Wildfire Awareness Month, firefighters are doing wildfire progressive packs training.

This kind of training is very helpful when firefighters are faced with the real thing.

“That can be difficult at times, it is a perishable skill and we are coming out of a long winter so it is a good skill to practice it at a time of year when fuels are ready to burn and so today we are just refreshing those skills,” Bussell said.

Temperatures are starting to warm up across the state, so the Rapid City Fire Department wants to remind everyone to be fire cautious in the coming months.

“It gives us good weather to get outside, and to get practiced up and have those skills fresh and sharp and ready to go when things do heat up and wildfire season is in full swing,” Lt. Roy Kottwitz, Rapid City Fire Dept., said.

All firefighters at the Rapid City Fire Department participated in this week’s training which finished up yesterday.