Dear Editor,

Ontario is experiencing record-breaking forest fires raging out of control. Here, we get a couple of days of orange skies, and some of us suffer breathing difficulties, a sore throat or eye irritation. My stepson in Madison, Wisconsin says it’s uncomfortable breathing outside. 

Some of our U.S. neighbours want to blame Canada for the bad air, as if the folks in Northern Ontario who have had to flee across the lake to escape the rampaging wall of destruction are somehow responsible for burning their own world to the ground. We all know, the fires were started by space lasers, right? No, it’s mostly lightning strikes. 

The important thing now is to rescue the refugees, slow or stop the fires, and then see if we can figure out how to avoid a repeat next week or next year. Deciding whom to blame can come later, or never. 

Robert Wills, Thorne and Shawville