To all concerned,
I feel compelled to address the misunderstanding regarding the Augusta Professional Firefighters Association’s involvement or lack thereof regarding the fundraisers for Sgt. Chris Thomson’s son.
Although this is not the medium that I’d like to use to address this but there has been insinuations regarding our lack of involvement. These insinuations were taken from well-meant comments but were totally misunderstood. The Augusta Professional Firefighters Association has an obligation and a duty to its members first and are governed by bylaws and the leadership will be accountable from its members as well as the International Association of Firefighters.
Although the Augusta Professional Firefighters Association cannot use association resources to fund a non-member, however, ...we are strongly encouraging all to participate and make all the fundraisers a huge success to assist this family in their time of hardship.
Yes, the fire department has a long history of taking care of its own and we as fire department members will fully support this family, however the union functions by a different set of bylaws. There are benefits to being a union member where the union leadership fights and stands up for its members. This doesn’t mean that we don’t care about other fire department brothers and sisters, but our priority is to the union member first. If there were no benefits, why become a member!

Thomas Stokes
Charles Masters
Shad Johnson

Augusta Professional Firefighters Association