Seven open-air fires by 1pm. Two active, two brought under control, three put out. That is half a working day in Macedonia at the start of August, and the number comes from the Crisis Management Centre, not from anybody's dramatic estimate.

It burned near the village of Mogila - low vegetation. It burned in the municipality of Dolneni, near the village of Ropotovo - scorched stubble. Then came another call: Momin Potok in the Skopje area, Zajchev Rid, where thick smoke was visible across the whole stretch opposite the Sistina clinic. The Skopje City Fire Brigade was called in.

Brought under control were the landfill fire in the municipality of Delchevo and the one at „Stojanova naselba” near the village of Greshnica, municipality of Makedonski Brod, where low vegetation, degraded forest and shrubland were burning. The extinguished ones were in Vasilevo, Gostivar and Petrovec.

Look at that list again. A landfill in Delchevo. Stubble in Dolneni. Degraded forest near Makedonski Brod. Not one of these fires is a mystery of nature - these are places where somebody sets something alight, or where something has been smouldering for a long time with nobody paying attention.

Burning stubble is banned by law. Landfills burn because they are landfills that nobody manages. And every summer the same story repeats itself in the same words in the same press releases, while the crews on the ground run from point to point with equipment that is not enough for half the calls they get.

The forecast for the coming days promises up to 40 degrees and a dry northerly wind that picks up in gusts. In those conditions dry grass does not smoulder - it flies. The question is not whether there will be more fires, but how long everyone will keep pretending this is unexpected.