One minute we were sitting around a table having a few laughs, the next minute – literally – we were blazing through downtown Norwich blaring sirens en route to a fire at Chenango Memorial Hospital.

That was how quickly it went for the City of Norwich firefighters from deciding what to order for lunch to deciding, in a matter of seconds, how to take on a fire that, given the location, could have had disaster and tragedy written all over it. Making last-minute adjustments to his gear as we sped toward the high-rising smoke column above North Broad Street, firefighter Tracy Chawgo looked over at me (who looked like a deer in headlights, from what I’m told) and said, “This could be big.”

That was at 12:52 p.m.

The big excitement around the firehouse before that: I was fifteen minutes late for my shift on the EMS squad and missed two calls. That was all anyone could talk about the first hour I was there.

“You missed all the good stuff,” firefighter Jim Wallen would scold.

“Probably nothing will happen now for the rest of day,” firefighter Mike Powell would chime.

“We ought to dock your pay,” Captain Jeff Steward would add.

It was the joke of the morning. But there’s nothing funny about being late in this line of work.

“I guess it just goes to show how much difference a few minutes can make,” I said, in my best attempt at an after-school special flip-flop.