Waynesville Police Department and Saunook Fire Department

Chris is always willing to go above an beyond.

Chris has been a Waynesville Police Officer for over 27 years and currently serves as the Senior Lieutenant of the Support Services Division with a variety of responsibilities including the Communications Team, Records Management Team, Hostage Negotiations Team, Drone Team and School Resource Officers.  He also assists in managing the day to day operations of the Police Department working with the budget, vendors, and the Civilian Police Volunteers.

An incident Chris was involved with proves that officers can go from the relative safety of their patrol cars to a potentially deadly encounter in a split second.  It just so happens, Chris had his turn on this day back in January.  He saw a young lady walking in the middle of the road and thought she must be in some type of distress so he stopped to check on her.  When he did, things escalated rather quickly and she brandished a knife.  Thankfully with his years of experience and the grace of God, everyone survived this potentially deadly force encounter with relatively minor injuries. Chris was deeply cut on the hand while struggling to disarm her.

Not only is Chris a stellar officer, he's also a fireman. Chris joined the Saunook Volunteer Fire Department in the summer of 1991, where he remains to this day.  He currently serves as the Chief with no plans to retire any time soon.

In the early 2000’s Chris was participating in a training fire of an old hotel in Maggie Valley and his team was assigned to make an initial attack on an active fire.  Upon making entry into the very fire involved hotel room, he realized his turnout gear was failing.  He had been assigned as the lead on the primary attack line and had no choice but to finish what he started and fight the fire.  As a result of putting water on the fire, he received 3^rd degree burns across his shoulders and back from the steam created and is still scarred from these burns.  As a result, he was sidelined from interior fire fighting for approximately 9 months until his burns had time to heal.

As a result of both his actual job as a police officer and his volunteer work as a firefighter, he has been involved in many incidents that resulted in the loss of life.  He carries these memories with him and thinks of them often, especially when he drives by a particular location on the highway or a residence where a tragedy occurred.

Chris would never consider himself a hero.  He is very humble and wants no credit whatsoever. He would never hesitate to fight a fire at midnight or to walk into an armed confrontation.   A hero is someone who regardless of what the potential outcome could be, still shows up and gives everything they have to give without expecting to be recognized for anything they personally did.

And these are just a few reasons why Chris Chandler is a hero.