Fifty-two open-air fires in one day. That is what the Directorate for Protection and Rescue logged on Wednesday - the highest count since the start of summer. Forty-six were put out, six stayed active, and by Thursday morning the running total had reached 51 fires in the last 24 hours, five of them still burning and four under control.

The worst of it is at Ramni Gaber in the municipality of Studeničani. The fire is moving across steep, barely accessible ground thick with brush and trees, and the Directorate's three air tractors are working there alongside special teams and Skopje firefighters. They spent the night on watch - not to extinguish it, but to keep it away from the houses.

In Čaška, near the village of Bogomila, the flames came close to homes in places. Local fire crews, public utility workers and villagers are handling it there. That combination - professionals, municipal staff and locals with tree branches - is a picture Macedonia sees every single summer.

Third day of burning near Dragov Dol

In the municipality of Makedonski Brod the fire is in its third day. Rocky, inaccessible terrain is slowing the effort, and the aerial support, as Directorate head Stojanče Angelov admits, did not deliver what was expected. A module of 25 volunteer firefighters and five operatives was sent in. They reached the fire line and worked one flank successfully.

„There is still fire in one gully. I am optimistic that today and tomorrow this fire will be completely extinguished”, Angelov said.

Active hotspots are also logged at Staro Baldovci in Bosilovo, Makovo in Novaci, Muždivnjak near Kriva Palanka, and in the fields of Lozani in Mogila. Angelov warns the last one could grow into a major fire. Under control are the fires at the municipal landfill in Delčevo, near Novo Selo on Mount Ogražden, in Manastirsko Dolenci near Kičevo, and in Kopance in Jegunovce.

Near Prilep the fire took a barn with tobacco stored inside. The 42 extinguished fires were spread across Kumanovo, Bitola, Prilep, Dolneni, Makedonski Brod, Tearce, Lipkovo, Saraj, Gazi Baba, Đorče Petrov and Centar Župa - roughly half the country on one day's list.

The Directorate and the Crisis Management Centre are appealing to the public for maximum caution. The appeal is accurate, but it is not an answer. High temperatures, dry weather and wind are predictable every August, and a figure of 52 fires in one day says more about how prepared we are than about how hot it is. The question none of the officials asks out loud is why every season starts with the same three air tractors and ends with a call for volunteers.