The internet is doing some funny things to time, space and relationships. Our perspective is warped. We feel close to faraway things and far from nearby things. But the world — the real world — is bringing us closer together whether we like it or not.
Smoke from Canadian fires is again turning Minnesota air hazardous. In fact, we have our own fires adding danger to communities in St. Louis, Lake and Cook counties. That’s the inspiration for today’s column (gift link).
The air we breathe is something we all share. After all, there is no special air for God-fearing patriotic conservatives or community-minded progressive allies. It’s just air, and today it’s lousy for everyone. Same for fire. Fire will burn any fuel. There is no difference between scrap wood and a house.
Most Minnesotans live in the seven-county metro area of the Twin Cities. People go online and see the fires up north, interpreting them through their own lens. How’s my cabin? How’s my favorite tourist spot? This is perfectly natural. It’s how our brains work. But today, I flip it around. How would those questions feel if the fire was burning your home?
I started noticing this phenomenon in our neighborhood Facebook group. We’d have a big storm, maybe lose power for a day, and even as the storm was happening people from somewhere else would be asking if someone would check on their cabins or docks.
Again, I know why people want this. The internet creates the illusion that people you don’t know are open to intimate requests like this, while they are actually strangers who have their own problems. For instance, they might not have potable water, or in the worst scenarios, a place to live. You don’t know because of distance you aren’t properly perceiving.
There’s a lot to this that goes beyond weather and natural disasters. A whole philosophy of time and space. But for today, I share a harrowing story of a woman who had just ten minutes to flee a wildfire last May. Her experience relates not only to people being evacuated today, but to all of us.
Read “Minnesota wildfires aren’t just destroying tourist areas. For some, their homes are at stake” in the Thursday, July 16, 2026 edition of the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Aaron J. Brown is a columnist and member of the editorial board for the Minnesota Star Tribune. His new book about Hibbing Mayor Victor Power and his momentous fight against the world’s largest corporation will be out soon.
