The landfill near the Strumica village of Dobrašinci was burning again. Two fire trucks, six firefighter-rescuers and machinery from the public utility „Komunalec” worked all day to contain the flames and bury the landfill with earth, so it wouldn't flare up once more. The fire was brought under control, but the crews stayed on site until it was fully out.

So far - a routine story about a summer fire. The problem is in the word „again”. The ecological organisation „Zdrava kotlina” points out this isn't the first, second or third case, but a scenario that repeats several times every year: a fire, an intervention, thick toxic smoke over the Strumica basin, then silence - all the way to the next fire.

And that's the real story. The firefighters, as the organisation says, respond quickly, professionally and selflessly. They are the last line of defence - and they are the first ones exposed to the toxic smoke, risking their own health. But their job is to put out fires, not to spend years responding to the same landfill because of somebody's failure to act.

That's why „Zdrava kotlina” is demanding what has clearly been missing so far: that the Interior Ministry and the inspection services thoroughly investigate the causes, identify those responsible and take measures that will finally break this long-running pattern. If broader coordination between institutions is needed too, they say, it has to be set up.

The question hanging over the basin is as simple as it is uncomfortable: who has, for years, allowed the same landfill to catch fire over and over, while nobody answers for it? An appeal to the public to stay calm and not spread unverified information is fine. But calm doesn't burn - the landfill does. And as long as there is no accountability for the causes, the next cloud of smoke over Strumica is only a matter of time.