Some call him “Hink” and some call him “Cap” and others call him “Chinkle.” He’s a high-energy guy. Being busy is how he likes life and busy he is – a 16-year veteran of the Knoxville Fire Dept. (KFD), a Vestal and South Knoxville guy – Capt. Chris Hinkle.
The KFD Station 6 Red Shift crew after a fire call earlier this year (from left) Capt. Chris Hinkle, Master Firefighter Bryan Kramer and Senior Firefighter Brian Garrett
Today he’s the Red Shift captain at Station 6 on Holston Hills Drive, a storied firehall that is 88 years young, built in 1937, and scheduled for replacement in 2026. The new $8.6 million Burlington Fire Station No. 6 will be built a block away from the current station and it covers the Burlington community plus Holston Hills and Magnolia Avenue accidents and incidents on I-40 and I-75, averaging approximately 1,600 calls a year.
He and his family celebrated his 39th birthday this past Wednesday. Life revolves around his family – wife Lauren Brichetto Hinkle and their two baseball-loving sons, Jase, 12, a South Doyle Middle 7th-grade student, and Nolan, 9, a 4th grader at Mt. Olive Elementary. Jase is his school’s third baseman and plays for the Tomahawks Travel Team. Nolan plays for the Bower Lightning team. Lauren is an ultrasound tech for an OB/GYN practice at UT Medical Center.
“Seems like baseball is non-stop for me,” Chris says. He’s also an assistant coach on their teams.
In addition to his work at Station 6, he also serves as vice president of the Knoxville Firefighters Association Local 65 and that’s a time-consuming responsibility as well, he says. And when needed, he’s an annual training instructor at KFD’s Training Center.
This husband-wife team of 16 years were good friends at South Doyle High School, having met on their first day as 9th graders, and were in the same 2005 graduating class. But not sweethearts. A mutual friend reconnected them on Facebook in 2007 and things heated up from there after a first date to watch “Pirates of the Caribbean.” He got lucky. He was a “class clown” and she the serious one.
Fire and medical work and their myriad aspects may be in his DNA. His late grandfather, David Hinkle, spent 35 years at KFD and was forced to retire with a career-ending broken back and injuries to both ankles. So far Capt. Hinkle has no injuries in 16 years.
Capt. Chris Hinkle
The love of this job began when he was 9 or 10 years old. “I used to visit my grandfather at the stations and seeing the trucks, the lights and hearing the sirens and watching what they did … I knew then that’s what I wanted to do,” he said. “I love this area and our shift and my squad. I love every aspect of our job. I love not knowing what’s gonna happen next and being here and able to help people. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Any other job would be boring at this point.”
His crew on Engine 6 includes Master Firefighter Bryan Kramer (driver) and Senior Firefighter/ Paramedic Brian Garrett. Hinkle’s boss is veteran Battalion Chief Doug Gwantley.
Hinkle is an EMT-Advanced, an IV Technician, Fire Officer Classes I, II, and III; Aerial Apparatus Driver Operator; Instructor I and II; Technical Rescue in ropes, trenches, confined spaces and collapse rescue. He also is a Vehicle Extraction Instructor and a member of the KFD-Knoxville Police Joint Search & Rescue Team that deployed after Hurricane Helene. Hinkle studied Criminal Justice and Criminal Psychology at Walters State Community College. He earned his EMT-A and IV Tech certifications at Roane State Community College while working as a Reserve Firefighter at the Jefferson City Fire Dept., before joining KFD.
Chief Gwantley enjoys working with Hinkle. “Chris is someone who can be depended on to take care of whatever he says he will and whatever is asked of him. I have worked with him on the KPD Search and Rescue team, in the fire department, on our KFD Honor Guard and our Technical Rescue Team,” Gwantley says. “He helps make my job as his supervisor very easy.”
Like most of his fellow KFD professionals, he’s had his share of tough days:
- He answered a call in his first year to a car accident. The car was fully engulfed. They got water on it quickly. But a man and his dog perished. “Nothing we could do. It hurt. Felt helpless.”
- “We had a house fire call on Callahan Road five to six years ago. It was a heavy fire. We were not able to go in. There was nothing we could do. Nothing. Three people died. It was winter with snow on the ground. About 5 a.m. That’s the worst stuff we do. We try and try. But it sticks with you. Three people gone.”
- The date was February 29, 2021. “The most scared I’ve ever been,” he says. He and Capt. Jeff Conard were checking for hotspots in a basement fire extinguished the previous day. “Captain fell through the floor into the basement during overhaul. He landed on something soft. I was able to lay down on my stomach and grab his hands and help him get out. Scared the crap out me. In pure firefighter fashion when get got out he said, ‘Watch that step, kid, it’s a doozie.’ I said Captain, this is not the time for jokes. My heart is beating outta my chest. Luckily he was not hurt.”
Fall is just weeks away and the three Hinkle men will be in the woods deer hunting again. Next spring they’ll be together turkey hunting. Baseball and the hunting and home offer Hinkle time away from the job stresses.
But more importantly, many great times are being had and memory after memory being made between Dad, Jase and Nolan.
Tom King has been the editor of newspapers in Texas and California and also worked in Tennessee and Georgia. If you have someone you think we should consider featuring, please email him at the link with his name or text him at 865-659-3562.
Our Town Hero is sponsored by Aubrey’s Restaurants.
