When we were living in Toronto we would often hear sirens as firetrucks, ambulance or police cars would go racing past on Steeles Ave. When this happened I really didn’t put a lot of thought into it. I mean, the chances of knowing someone who might be in need of rescue in a region of early 6 million people is pretty low. So – the sirens would go by and I would continue doing what I was doing.

 

When you live in a small town and you hear the sirens it’s different. Your stomach tightens, you forget everything else and your first thought is – "what if it’s someone I know?" You feel a little sick inside and you want to stop everything and go and see if there’s something you can do. At night you look out to see if there’s the tell-tale glow of a fire in the sky. If it’s day you leave your work and look down the street and pray it’s not your child.

 

Small town sirens are heralds of fear and drive you to prayer. I’ve heard them too often these days and hope they are silent for a while.