Two small wild fires kept Rapid City crews busy Monday afternoon. Much of the Black Hills are sweltering in near triple digit temperatures. Officials say the hot weather could increase the fire danger. Jeni Lawver is with South Dakota’s division of Wildland Fire.
“If things continue the way that they have been with this really extremely hot weather I’d say in the next two weeks or so, I’d be more concerned of more fires popping up. I believe over the weekend we had 5 or 6 starts from lightning, but all of them were contained at either a half an acre or under,” says Lawver.
Lawver says that even though we’ve had a lot of moisture people need to be aware that things can quickly change. She also says people need to be vigilant in their efforts to reduce and report fire. Lawver adds that home owners in rural areas need to take measure to prepare their property for wildfire.