Hello,
I'm an experienced Python developer and Linux user. I have used the RPi for many projects including sensor reading, motor control, video surveillance, media center.
I haven't worked with Firebase so far but the Python libraries for it looks fairly straightforward.
However if latency is important why not use a local DB to avoid having to go out to the Internet for the information. How large is the database; perhaps local caching of some data could improve latency.
"hello crunch"
Best wishes,
iticus