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Bullins adjusts to new role as Statesville’s fire chief

Donna Swicegood | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) | Dec. 22, 2007

David Bullins fulfilled a long-time dream this week.

After years of working toward the goal of becoming a fire chief, he’s settling into the job at the Statesville Fire Department. Bullins was hired recently to replace Richard Campbell, who passed away last summer.

“It’s been great,” Bullins said Thursday as he sat in his new office at Station One. “The people have been great and have welcomed me with open arms.”

Bullins has been getting the full open arms treatment in his first week on the job, spending time in budget meetings, and getting the chance to talk with the firefighters he will be commanding.

Before being hired by the city, Bullins spent his entire paid career with the Greensboro Fire Department, starting some 24 years ago after a stint at a volunteer fire department in Guilford County. He was most recently a battalion chief at the GFD.

“This is the type of department I was looking for,” he said. “This is a good department, but it’s ready to be a great department. They are ready to do things to make that happen, and there are a lot of things happening here. I’m really looking forward to doing what we can to make this happen.”

Bullins said he began his career in the fire service at the urging of a friend, who encouraged him to join a volunteer fire department. “I had never really thought about it before,” he said. After he joined the ranks of the volunteer fire department, the idea of making it a paid career came about during a class.

“I met a guy with the Greensboro Fire Department and the local rescue squad, and I decided that’s what I wanted to do,” he said. “But I didn’t really have a plan. I was taking some business courses at the community college.”

Bullins applied for a position at the GFD and was hired, at age 20.

He said he knew he had made the right decision. “This is my career. I know that,” he said.

Bullins soon longed to be more, to move up the ranks, and one day be the chief of a fire department. To accomplish that, he said, he knew he needed to further his education. So he worked as a firefighter and went to the community college for a two-year degree. Then, through correspondence courses, he earned his four-year degree from the University of Cincinnati.

Bullins also completed an intensive program at the National Fire Academy in Emmittsburg, Md. About 225 firefighters are accepted into the program each year.

After a few years working an 8-to-5 shift in the administrative section of the fire department, Bullins said, he wanted to be a more hands-on leader. He moved to a position as a shift commander, working with four or five stations of personnel. “That’s when I learned a lot about dealing with people,” he said.

His communication and people skills were among the reasons he was the best man for the top job in Statesville, said Mayor Costi Kutteh.

“He is an excellent choice and the perfect choice,” Kutteh said. “His communication and interpersonal skills made him the best candidate.”

Bullins said the timing of this position seemed to be perfect. “My wife was working at our church part time and they needed her to work full time,” he said. The couple wasn’t sure a full-time job for Jeanna Bullins was best for their two young children, Nate, 7, and C.J., 5.

The opening in the SFD seemed like the answer to their prayers. Bullins said he knew he made the right decision when he and his wife drove through Statesville during the application process. “We wanted a city that wasn’t too big, but one that didn’t seem in decline,” he said. “We drove through downtown, and saw a vibrant, growing community.”

After accepting the offer from Statesville, Bullins said, things fell into place quickly, leaving him with no doubt that he made the right decision. “We sold our house in three weeks. All around, things have worked out so well. I know this is the right thing for us,” he said.

Like his predecessor, Campbell, Bullins said he places his family’s needs above the job.

Bullins and his wife had an older son, Corbin, who died in 2000 at the age of 6 from a brain disease. “One thing I can say is I don’t have any regrets that I didn’t spend enough time with him,” he said. And, he said, he believes Nate and C.J. will be able to say the same thing when they are adults.

His son’s illness and death prompted him to write a book about the boy. During a three-year period, while he was completing his course work, he would spend his spare time compiling pictures of Corbin and writing. At the end, he published a book about his son titled “Exceptional Spirit” that details how his faith helped he and his wife cope.

Bullins also took up flying. “It was an intense, fun thing to do,” he said.

But, he said, it was also an expensive hobby. “I had to decide if I wanted to put my kids through college or be a pilot,” he said with a laugh.

Now, the activities of his two children are enough to keep him occupied off the job. His son is active in Cub Scouts, something they want to continue here, and his daughter loves tumbling.

On the job, Bullins said, he wants to work with the firefighters and the community to make the department the best in the state. He said the firefighters are supportive of this effort and ready to take that step.

“I’m very impressed with this department. It’s not just a handful of people doing things, it’s everybody.”

He said his next move is to find our where the department wants to go, and what the city needs from its fire department in the future.

“We’re going to do some strategic planning to put together needs for the next three to five years,” he said. “Then we’ll work toward those goals.”

Kutteh said he believes Bullins is the man to lead the fire department in the growth it’s going to experience with the annexation and changes taking place in Statesville. “He understands the needs of the community and the firefighters,” the mayor said. “We are fortunate to have him here.”

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