Firefighters from a number of agencies across the state will be taking part in the annual wildland fire preparedness drill this week in Mesa.

Kevin Bailey of the Central Arizona Wildland Response Team says they hope this weekend’s rain will push back the start of this year’s fire season, which had already been upon us.

“We’ve been having small fires across the state every day and so fire season is here,” Bailey said. “So, we’re really kind of depending on this rain to kind of put us back to where we should be where fire season won’t start until end of April, beginning of May hopefully.”

Bailey says among the issues to be covered this year are the basics, like the ten standard fire orders, maintaining situational awareness, and being aware of what’s going on around them throughout the fire.