Deadwood ‘47 Dodge fire engine, rich with history, to be restored

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) - Deadwood is steeped in history, right down to the seal of the city’s volunteer fire department.

If you were to stop by the department’s headquarters at Fire Street and Pioneer Way, you’d see what’s called the “Dead Man’s Hand” inscribed in the seal of the vehicles, referring to the pair of aces and eights Wild Bill Hickock was holding at the time he was shot playing poker while at a Deadwood saloon.

Deadwood VFD Assistant Chief Charles Fetter speaks about how preserving history is key to the fire department’s duty.

“We’ve got buildings, we’ve got houses that are over a hundred years old,” Fetter said. “We do anything and everything we can to save whatever it is, no matter what it is.”

That’s where the restoration of old Fire Engine 2 comes in. Built in 1947, i