Fuels Reduction / Firewise Program

The threat of wildfire has become an ever growing concern for the community of Deadwood.  Reminders of previous wildfires are still visible on the surrounding hill slopes in Deadwood.  The September 1959 wildfire destroyed 4,501 acres at a loss value of $1.5 million.  Forty-three years later, the Grizzly Gulch Fire of 2002 consumed 11,589 acres and cost approximately $5.5 million to suppress.

To combat against the threat of wildfire, the City of Deadwood and the Deadwood Volunteer Fire Department has taken a proactive approach through a fuels reduction program.  Deadwood’s fuel reduction program utilizes hand crews to cut, stack and burn lower limbs of trees, brush, dead trees, bug trees and any other unhealthy growth within the city limits.  Contractual work for this program is funded through a combination of federal grants and city allocated funds.  Partners in this program include the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), South Dakota Department of Corrections and South Dakota Wildland Fire.