Pukwana sits just off of Interstate 90 to the north 1 mile , 9 miles east of the Missouri River and Chamberlain, South Dakota and on the south edge of the Crow Creek Indian Reservation. Pukwana was part of the original Crow Creek Reservation. Pukwana's Indian name means Smoke. Pukwana was surveyed into lots and blocks in 1882. It was originally called Carlton which was not appealing to some members of the community.

The population of the town of Pukwana is 287 and an additional 200 people in the surrounding service area with a square mileage of 300 miles in Brule County South Dakota. In addition to this we also provide primary response and structural protection to the Crow Creek housing district on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation and surrounding tribal land in Buffalo County South Dakota with an additional 69,794 acres of land in Buffalo county 35,122 of which is Tribal land and the remaining in individual land with a population of 1,137 people in Buffalo County and the Crow Creek Indian Reservation area. Both of these areas have a mixture of flat and rolling hills and several state game preserves, with limited access to water sources

We provide mutual aid to Chamberlain , Kimball Gann Valley , Academy , Fort Thompson Fire Departments for fire protection both wild land and structural.

The Pukwana Volunteer Fire Department consists of 25 members all of which are volunteer operating out of 1 fire station.


Our Equipment

Unit 1 - 1980 Chevrolet - 4x4 - Engine (500 gallons)
Unit 2 - 1999 Chevrolet - Brush Unit (300 gallon water 30 gallons foam)
Unit 3 - 1983 Chevrolet - Tanker/Tender (300 gallons)
Unit 4 - 1994 Dodge 4x4 - Light Rescue/Medical Response
Unit 5 - 1990 International - Tanker/Tender (750 gallons)
Unit 6 - 1976 Ford - Engine (650 gallons)
Unit 7 - 1983 Chevrolet 4x4 - Brush Unit (300 gallon water 30 gallons foam)
Unit 8 - 1976 Chevrolet 4x4 - Brush Unit (250 gallons)

Portable Tank/Pump for Mop up on wild land/Brush Fires on a 10' trailer. (250 gallon water)

2 - 1,500 gallon drop tanks

Our Response time on an average is around 5 minutes for the first unit to be rolling from the initial page.
For calls during daytime hours within the first 10 minutes we can have 3 or more units responding, which is remarkable as most of our volunteers work at a minimal 10 miles from the station.
In the evenings three or more units can be responding within the first 5 minutes.