The Smokey Bear Hot Air Balloon is coming to the Black Hills to celebrate Wildfire Awareness Month! The Friends of the Smokey Bear Balloon will be available from 6:30 to 9 a.m. MDT on Saturday, May 9,at the soccer fields on Campbell Street in Rapid City.

If the weather cooperates, there will be FREE tethered balloon rides. If you are unable to make the Saturday morning fun, you can find the Smokey Bear Balloon and its team from 6:30 to 9 a.m. MDT on Sunday, May 10, in Custer State Park in the meadow near the Game Lodge.

The Smokey Hot Air Balloon's first public voyage was in October 1993 at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico.

The current Smokey Bear Hot Air Balloon, a 2005 Aerostar International, Inc., holds 145,000 cubic feet of air, with a height, including basket, of 97 feet. The diameter below the eyes is 55 feet, and the hat brim diameter is 72 feet. The envelope is made up of 4,670 square yards of rip-stop nylon weighing 546 pounds.

The Smokey Bear Balloon is heated by two LPG burners, producing 30,000,000 BTUs per hour. The basket weight, with fuel tanks and miscellaneous equipment, is 584 pounds. The total balloon weight is 1,130 pounds. It requires approximately 20 personnel to set up and inflate it.

Smokey Bear turns 71 on August 9, 2015. Despite the campaign’s success over the last 70 years, human-caused wildfire prevention remains one of the most critical issues affecting our country. Smokey’s message is as relevant today as it was in 1944. "Only You Can Prevent Wildfires."

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