The territorial fire brigade in Kumanovo has received a donation of three fire engines from the Austrian province of Tyrol. It is a continuation of a partnership through which Kumanovo already received, last year, a modern fire engine with a 32-metre hydraulic platform. The Austrian model of working with volunteer fire brigades is being transferred here step by step, and judging by the partnership projects so far, it is working.

Mayor Maksim Dimitrievski informed that representatives of the TPPE and the Volunteer Fire Society had completed a five-day training in Tyrol. The themes: extinguishing open-ground fires and rescuing people from height. Two practical modules that, in the mountainous parts of the region, become critical every fire season.

The context matters. Kumanovo was chosen as the pilot municipality in the reform of the fire-protection system being modelled on the Austrian template - with a clear accent on volunteer fire societies. That is a significant structural shift. Macedonia has spent decades running state-funded fire units that are underequipped and thin on personnel. The Austrian scheme rests on coordination between paid units and trained volunteers - a model that multiplies capacity without an enormous hit on the budget.

The question is whether the model gets rolled out further. Kumanovo is the pilot, but the other municipalities show little interest in a reform of this type. Without wider take-up, every next donation from Tyrol will be useful for Kumanovo, but it will stay a local story. If the model succeeds in Kumanovo, other mayors will have to explain why they kept waiting. And if a fire breaks out next year in a town with no trained volunteers, the question will not be "why Kumanovo first", but "why were the others last".