PFFPNC Leaders Attend Joint Fire Summit
PFFPNC President Scott Mullins and Political Director Josh Smith attended a meeting this past week comprised of leaders from the three organizations advocating for fire fighters and the fire service at the General Assembly. 
The three organizations include PFFPNC, the NC Association of Fire Chiefs and the NC State Firefighters Association.
“All three organizations have an important role to play at the General Assembly and we needed to sit down together and talk openly and honestly about what we want accomplished and how we get the work done,” said PFFPNC Political Director Josh Smith.
President Mullins reports that the most common ground seemed to center on getting House Bill 520 | Firefighters Fighting Cancer Act, which passed the House in April 2019 and now sits in the Senate where Sen. Jim Perry (R-Wayne/Lenoir) is pushing for enactment.
“While we all want what is best for fire fighters, their families and the profession, we haven’t always been our best at communicating what we are doing and saying inside the General Assembly,” Mullins said. “This summit is hopefully the beginning of more conversations on how we can get work done for fire fighters.”
PFFPNC on Instagram, calls for photos
PFFPNC expanded its social media platforms to include Instagram in 2020.
“We want to give our members – particularly our younger members one more platform to hear from PFFPNC,” said PFFPNC president Scott Mullins. “While Facebook and Twitter are our gold standard message platforms, particularly about fire fighter news pertaining to the General Assembly, we want to use Instagram to show another side of our work.”
Mullins said the Instagram site will mainly feature photographs submitted by members that include firehouse moments, active fires, community work and meetings with policymakers.
PFFPNC encourages members to visit the Instagram page at www.instagram.com/PFFPNC and to DM (direct message) the page with photos.
PFFPNC 2019 Convention – Day 2
The second day of the 2019 PFFPNC convention continued with another group of great speakers and educational presentations.
IAFF president Harold Schaitberger first addressed the crowd. He updated delegates of the growth of the union, particularly in North Carolina. He also touched on politics stating that IAFF supports both sides of the party line, supporting those that stand with fire fighters and first responders.
“Continue your growth in numbers and continue your political influence,” Schaitberger encouraged.
Day 2 also included a visit from former NC insurance commissioner and long-time PFFPNC supporter Wayne Goodwin, who officially announced he is running again for insurance commissioner.
“You need an insurance commissioner, a state fire marshal that supports an increase in your pension, collective bargaining and works every day to support you,” Goodwin said.
The day continued with a district update from Walt Dix and two presentations. Todd LeDuc spoke on cancer in the fire service and encouraged delegates to continue fighting for presumptive care. He also said not to ignore two other deadly causes to fire fighter death: cardiac failure and suicide.
“We’re not talking about statistics. We’re talking about our brothers and sisters.”
Jim Tate and Greensboro Local’s Dave Coker addressed the crowd about insurance, particularly lowering the cost of insurance.
The day concluded with a few more read and passed resolutions.
Tuesday evening includes an event for the PFFPNC charitable fund and gun raffle.
Wednesday will include the election of three trustees, the reading and voting of final resolutions and election of the 2023 convention location.