WITH regard to John Whiting’s comments (Gazette letters, November 25) regarding East Preston losing a fire appliance, his argument holds very little water, if you will excuse the pun.If Littlehampton firefighters are called out to a fire on the Bognor side of town, East Preston will still have fire cover – after all, they are losing only one appliance. The same argument could be made that if a Littlehampton crew is called to East Preston, then Littlehampton has no cover.These are risks that have to be taken wherever you reside. You would need a fire appliance on every street corner to make certain no one was at risk.The answer would be to have a full-time station on the Rustington bypass at either Windmill Lane end or The Body Shop roundabout. The appliances then could cover all areas and there would be no need for East Preston fire station, which for some areas is in the wrong location, anyway, if the incident is north of the railway line.I, too, was based on a fire station at Heathrow. The London Fire Brigade and sometimes Surrey Fire Brigade managed to cope not only with local calls, but the airport as well.D. Thomas,Oakcroft Gardens,Littlehampton