Homes and historic landmarks burned to the ground. Smoke blanketing the continent and sending children to the emergency room. Businesses shut for days or weeks while raging wildfires run rampant from coast to coast.

As the country emerges from the second-worst forest fire season on record, affecting 98 per cent of the population and causing an estimated $6 billion in economic damage, it’s time for the federal government to dramatically ramp up its funding of wildfire fighting, according to a call issued by a consortium of business, industry and environmental groups.

“Meeting this challenge requires multibillion-dollar, capital-intensive commitments in surveillance, suppression and training,” states an open letter, released Wednesday by Corporate Knights magazine and signed by organizatio

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