Neighbors worry about fire department response time  Neighbors
worry about fire department response time   by Rad Berky /
NewsChannel 36  Bio | Email | Follow: @RadBerkywcnc  Posted on
July 11, 2012 at 11:19 PM  GASTON COUNTY--Drive down West
Westview street in southern Gaston County and you will see two
homes that have been destroyed by fires.  Chief Billy Thompson
of the Crowders Mountain Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department
said, "Obviously travel time has a lot to do with the amount of
fire that can be there when we get there."  Thompson won't say
definitively that it was the distance firefighters had to travel
that resulted in the loss of those two homes.  He does admit
though though that the neighborhood is farther than the
recommended 5 miles from the nearest fire station.  Response
time here is supposed to be no more than 4 minutes.  "Right now
we can't do that,"  said the Chief.  "We're probably looking at
6 to 10 minutes of just travel time."  A man who lives near the
end of West Westview said his i