Several Gaston County firefighters rushed to the scene of a bad accident only to find out one of the victims is their former chief.
The accident happened on Crowders Creek Road, about a quarter mile west of Highway 321, in Gaston County.
A Gaston County firefighter said it's always difficult when they pull up to an accident scene and they recognize one of the cars involved.
Former Crowders Mountain Volunteer Fire Department Chief Carl Stowe was involved in a head-on collision. The first responders to the scene were in his former department.
Stowe was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center and the other driver was transported to Gaston Memorial.
Capt. Lawrence Spencer, with the Crowders Mountain V.F.D. said that now that the accident has been cleared, they are doing their best to administer aid to those firefighters who responded to the call.
"They got to focus on the job and keep going, but it hit us pretty hard after the fact. We're going back to the station and have a little bit of counseling and think about it," Spencer said.
State troopers are investigating the accident and trying to figure out what went wrong.
A local resident said the fog was so thick, combined with the smoke from a controlled fire in South Carolina, it made for very low visibility Wednesday morning.
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