Amends GS 97-53 concerning occupational diseases in the workers compensation act, making clarifying changes and adding new subsection (b), Occupational Diseases of Firefighters. New subsection provides that any condition or impairment related to the nine specified cancers are considered occupational diseases of firefighters for the purposes of GS Chapter 97, Article 1, the Workers' Compensation Act. 

Enacts new GS 97-53.1, Compensability of firefighter occupational diseases, providing a construct for compensation for injuries, illnesses, and deaths that are causally related to inherently dangerous firefighting activities. Defines the key terms disability and firefighter for use in this section. Provides that a firefighter is presumed eligible for compensation for occupational disease if (1) the firefighter underwent a physical examination when beginning service with that unit of local government and the physical did not show any evidence of an occupational disease and the firefighter has completed at least five years of service or (2) no physical examination was required prior to entering service and at the time of disability the firefighter has completed at least five years of continuous service immediately preceding January 1, 2015. Establishes a burden of rebuttal for the local government, requiring it to prove by a preponderance of competent evidence that any such condition was caused by other means. Clarifies that new provisions apply to firefighters of local government units.