Chris Chandler | Saunook Volunteer Firefighter

A Life of Service: Meet Saunook Volunteer Fire Chief Chris Chandler

For more than three decades, Chris Chandler has been part of the Saunook Volunteer Fire Department. During that time, equipment has changed, training has evolved, and the responsibilities placed on volunteer firefighters have grown. But one thing has remained central to Chandler's service: being there when his community needs him.

Today, Chandler serves as chief of the Saunook Volunteer Fire Department, a position he has held for approximately eight years. His path to leadership, however, began long before he carried the title of chief. He first joined the department more than 30 years ago and has spent his entire adult life in public service.

For Chandler, the fire department is made up of far more than trucks, equipment, and a building. It is made up of the people willing to answer the call.That distinction is especially important in a volunteer department. The firefighters serving Saunook have jobs, families, and responsibilities outside the station. When a call comes in, they leave those things behind and respond because someone in their community needs help.

Over more than 30 years, Chandler has watched the fire service become increasingly professionalized. Today's volunteers are expected to complete significant training and maintain skills that prepare them to respond to a wide range of emergencies - not simply fires. Vehicle accidents, fallen trees in the road, and medical emergencies bring Saunook's volunteers out at any hour.

Chandler's own experience with emergency response extends beyond the fire department. He has also spent many years in law enforcement with the Waynesville Police Department. That career has placed him in situations requiring a different kind of response, one that sometimes depends as much upon knowing how to communicate with someone as knowing what action to take.

One area of that work has been particularly meaningful to him: helping law-enforcement professionals understand how to communicate with children when abuse is suspected. Chandler continues to educate officers on approaches to speaking with children in these difficult circumstances. It is work that requires patience, trust, and an understanding that the way a first responder communicates can matter enormously to a person who may already be frightened or vulnerable.

Teaching has become another extension of Chandler's years of experience. In addition to serving as fire chief and working in law enforcement, he educates others in the fire service through the community college system. 

Some lessons can be taught in a classroom or practiced during training. Others are learned only through years of showing up, working beside other firefighters, responding to difficult calls, making decisions under pressure, and understanding the responsibility that comes with being trusted by a community.

A volunteer fire chief is responsible not only for emergency response but also for helping ensure that the department has trained people, functioning equipment, and the preparation necessary to serve its district. Behind every emergency call are hours of work that residents may never see.